| Every year all the priests from the three dioceses in Cambodia are invited to a retreat together at the Catholic Center in Sihanoukville on the country's southern coast. More than 50 priests attended this year. |
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Fr. Bob Wynne and Charlie Dittmeier from Maryknoll took the bus to Sihanoukville. All the booking is done by hand on looseleaf papers kept in big piles. It reminded me of traveling in India where seats on cross-country trains were all recorded in big paper ledgers. |
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It is 150 miles to Sihanoukville and the bus stops halfway there for a break. Here a father buys some roasted bananas for his children at the break. |
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When the different groups of priests arrived in Sihanoukville, Bishop Olivier was there to greet them personally and make sure they had rooms and other arrangements. |
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A retreat is a good time to renew acquaintances with old friends, especially on the first day before the silence begins. |
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Finally it was time to begin and Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler officially welcomed everyone to this year's retreat. |
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Bishop Charles Bo from Myanmar was the leader of this year's retreat and he began it with an introduction held in the parish church on the retreat grounds. |