Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
The Catholic Church in Cambodia.
For mass on Christmas morning, we moved from the small chapel (where we can seat only 100 persons) to the large upstairs church used by the Khmer community. We had to bring in chairs because they sit on mats on the floor and we had to take off our shoes as they do, but it was a very comfortable worship space that enabled us to welcome more people.
This morning I went to the Don Bosco Technical School for a day of reflection for the Salesian brothers and priests who live there. I have always used this gate to get in but today it was locked and no one was around. I waited about five minutes and then noticed a man on the inside of the wall to the left of the gate. He was rather far from this gate so i went back to the street behind me and walked to the left and found they have a second gate that they use only on Saturdays and Sundays. Finally I got in and met with the confreres there.
Today Bishop Olivier had the quarterly meeting with all the priests from the Phnom Penh diocese and he added a Christmas air to it. At the lunch at the end of the morning, he donned a Christmas cap and handed out some simple gifts to all of us. There are now 45 priests in the diocese of Phnom Penh. When I came to Cambodia 22 years ago, there were 32 priests in the whole country.
Yesterday was a special day for the English Catholic Community. First, it was Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of the season of Advent which has traditionally been celebrated joyfully because of the approaching birth of Jesus the Messiah. Because of the theme of joy, the priest uses rose or pink colored vestments. Secondly, Bishop Olivier was with us. His presence serves to unite our community with the church of Phnom Penh and with our Cambodian Catholic brothers and sisters. And thirdly, Bishop Olivier came to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to 16 of our parishioners, an important step in the life of Catholic Christians as they receive the Holy Spirit as their guide and strength through the struggles of daily life as a follower of Jesus.
After the scripture readings, Bishop Olivier introduced the actual confirmation ceremony. At one point he extends his hands over those to be confirmed, a symbolic laying of of hands as described in the Christian scriptures.
Then the bishop went down the line of those to be confirmed, anointing them with chrism (holy oil). He also gave them a small medal blessed by Pope Francis as a memento of this day.
This is an unusual photo. As Bishop Olivier and I and all the congregation were singing the final hymn before we processed out, the photographer went up behind the altar and took an ultra wide angle shot of the whole community.
When I first came to Cambodia, there were very few Christmas events and most of them were small private gatherings at churches or Christian schools. Now Cambodian society has learned there is money to be made recognizing Christmas and there are Christmas trees and Santa Clauses everywhere. And many of them have already been set up for this coming Christmas season.
Abortion is not a simple matter. Taking a human life is indeed a serious issue, but abortion must be considered in the larger context of Catholic Social Teaching. Many factors must influence our decisions and approaches. Here is a quite good article from America magazine that helps to look at the different issues involved:
Fr. Thomas Reese article
Yesterday turned out to be a very interesting Saturday. President Biden flew in on Air Force One in the morning for the ASEAN summit meeting held in Phnom Penh this weekend. He is Catholic and I had read that he tries to go to mass on Sundays wherever he is, so I was not too surprised when the US Embassy here asked me to have mass with him yesterday. The time for the mass changed three times during the week but finally we had a morning mass at the Raffles Hotel where the United States delegation was staying.
This year Bishop Olivier invited the lay missioners working in Phnom Penh to attend mass with him on Mission Sunday. There are not nearly the numbers of lay missioners we had before.
