Topics: Fire

Cambodia is trying hard to be a more modern country and in some ways–more paved streets, high-rise buildings, horrendous traffic–it has succeeded. But there are other elements of daily life that hearken back to the 18th century and beyond. One of those is the use of firewood for cooking. 80% of Cambodia uses wood or charcoal to cook every day, both at home and in the restaurants on the streets. It takes a tremendous toll on the remaining forests of the kingdom.

More than one problem here…

On the surface, this lead-in to an article in the Khmer Times seems hard to believe–that there could have been police raids on 10,000 gambling dens IN ONE MONTH! I doubt those gambling sites were all set up that month so this looks like an on-going problem. And it may well continue to be a problem if only 200 people were sent to court as a result of 10,000 raids. If there is such minimal enforcement and consequences, why stop running a gambling den?

Asia Area Director in Cambodia

There are four members of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners in Cambodia, and in an odd turn of events, the Asia Area Director is Steve Veryser–who lives in Kenya. Today Steve arrived in Cambodia for an official visit.

Kylene Fremling (L) and Julie Lawler greeting Steve Veryser at the Phnom Penh airport.

60 Years after Vatican II

This week was the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church. It’s good to remember what the Council accomplished. And the best summation comes from the late John W. O’Malley, SJ, in “What Happened at Vatican II.” In short, the church moved from “commands to invitations, from laws to ideals, from definition to mystery, from threats to persuasion, from coercion to conscience, from monologue to dialogue, from ruling to serving, from withdrawn to integrated, from vertical to horizontal, from exclusion to inclusion, from hostility to friendship, from rivalry to partnership, from suspicion to trust, from static to ongoing, from passive acceptances to active engagement, from fault-finding to appreciation, from prescriptive to principles, from behavior modification to inner appropriation.”

[From Fr. James Martin’s Twitter]