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The Catholic Church in Cambodia.
On Friday evening, the priests had a barbecue outside at the pastoral center.
I was fully prepared to keep posting updates here for each day of the retreat. It’s just that the wi-fi system at the pastoral center did not cooperate. The last two nights, when I was ready to post photos and comments, I could not gain access to the Internet at the center.
Traditionally all the priests of Cambodia had a retreat together the first week of June. Because of Covid there was a two-year hiatus, but this year the diocese of Phnom Penh organized a smaller gathering of only the Phnom Penh priests at the diocesan pastoral center on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
Here are some photos of the construction of the new St. Joseph Church at the beginning and end of April, 2022.
Recently we went over to World Vision to get some things out of our storage cabinets there that we could use for Holy Week. We had our weekly Saturday evening mass there for years. When I opened the missal for mass over there, it was set for the Second Sunday of Lent–the last Sunday we had mass in World Vision, in March 2020. After that mass the government closed all the schools, churches, etc. We haven’t been able to go back since then….
Bishop Olivier has been a builder in his twelve years as bishop of Phnom Penh Diocese. He had to be because there wasn’t much church infrastructure when he took over.
One site he acquired and has developed is the diocesan pastoral center on the edge of the city. It has accommodations for retreats, rooms for meetings, and is a good place for the diocese to concentrate services and activities.
Here are some glimpses of some of the surroundings there.