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To celebrate the two thousand anniversary of the death of St. Paul, the Catholic Church inaugurated a Year of St. Paul as a time to reflect on the man, his writings, his theology, and his influence on Christian people over the centuries. The dioceses of Cambodia are always energetic in celebrations of this sort, and posters, reflection guides, meetings and seminars, and publications from the bishop were made available to keep St. Paul on the minds of the faithful during the past year. Today was the closing of the Year of St. Paul with a special celebration in Phnom Penh. |
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| Many families came from a distance, from many small rural villages with a Catholic population, and for some a trip to the big city was a thrill in itself. A chance to play on simple playground equipment was a thrill for these children. There would be nothing like this in their home villages. |
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| As the crowd gathered for the opening of the celebration, there were displays of the life and teachings of St. Paul around the sides of the assembly hall. Here some of the Missionaries of Charity talk with a Catholic youth. |
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| The Salesians of Don Bosco build wonderful schools in many countries of the world--BIG schools! Most of them use the same architecture and basic plans, and most would have a huge assembly hall like this one. This school is run by the Salesian Sisters and is for kindergarten and primary students. |
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| The Catholic youth of Cambodia are an enthusiastic, although small, group, and these young men and women turned out to help as volunteers for the day. Their shirts are marked with "Anno Paulino" or "Pauline Year" in Italian. |
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| The ceremony started off with a traditional Khmer "blessing dance." |
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| Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio presided at the function today. He is the Apostolic Nuncio, or Vatican ambassador, to Thailand and Cambodia. He came from his office in Bangkok for the celebration. |
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| After the ceremony lunch was provided for about 1100 people in large tents set up in the school yard. This is a very common part of Cambodian culture, setting up tents with chairs and tables for people to be in shade for all sorts of celebrations such as official events or weddings or parties or a gathering like today's. |
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