"We are in golden times at this moment. The government is helping us. We have the freedom to work and also enjoy the freedom of belief. We face no problems from the government," said Bishop Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzalez, apostolic prefect of Battambang.

The Cambodian Church began to emerge only in the 1990s after the Khmer Rouge's communist regime (1975-79) nearly destroyed the tiny Catholic community.

Cambodia is home to only 35,000 Catholics, just 0.2 percent of the population of 17 million. There are no dioceses, but three ecclesiastical jurisdictions — one apostolic vicariate and two apostolic prefectures.

"I must say the Church in Cambodia is emerging from its dark times," he said. He noted that they are in a better situation than Christians in neighbouring countries.

"We have no big conflicts; we are at peace."

Government Collaboration

He said the Cambodian government acknowledges the presence of the Church and appreciates its humanitarian activities for the poor.

"The government not only accepts us, but they also appreciate our presence because we address the needs of the poor. They appreciate that we are engaged and we are not like NGOs that create problems. We really engage with the people," Bishop Alvargonzalez said.

The government also collaborates with the Catholic Church in caring for the sick. With the help of Caritas, the Church's social service organisation runs two hospitals — an eye hospital and a mental health hospital.

Takeo Eye Hospital belongs to the government, but Caritas is a partner. The Maryknoll Fathers initiated it to alleviate poverty by reducing avoidable visual impairment.

"It is the best hospital for eye treatment in Cambodia," the prelate said.

The pandemic has created an opportunity for the Church to explore new activities, Bishop Figaredo said.

"Something good has come out of Covid: we were put in touch with the people. It allowed us to quietly reach out to the people, and to the poor. We were there during the Covid outbreak helping people, so the people know us, and the government knows us," Bishop Alvargonzalez related.

The Church is also working to increase local vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Bishop Figerado said Cambodia enjoys peace. The government has put up slogans everywhere that say: "Thank you, peace."

"They are right. We have many injustices and many problems. But ‘thank you, peace,' we can run things."

"I think we have a great future. Well, we have a great present already," Bishop Figerado said.

Sources

UCA News

CathNews New Zealand

"After many years of sitting as a defendant at the end of this long case, it is important for me to inform you, and especially inform the Cambodian people, that I never wanted to commit a crime against my compatriots or anyone else," the 90-year-old said.

"No matter what you decide, I will die in prison. I will die always remembering the suffering of my Cambodian people. I will die seeing death. I am alone in front of you. I am judged symbolically rather than by my actual deed and as an individual. That's the end."

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Born in Gijon, Spain in 1959, he joined the Society of Jesus he was stationed at refugee camps near the Thai border from 1984-1988.

Since 2000 he has been the Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, a city on the banks of the Sangkae River in northwestern Cambodia.

Figaredo recently told UCAN News that conversions to Christianity, usually Protestantism, were quite common among former Khmer Rouge soldiers.

He said former Khmer Rouge soldiers used to come to his church.

Some were haunted by the ghosts of the past, hinting at the atrocities they witnessed or participated in."They were Catholics but also former Khmer Rouge," he said.

Some would bring their kids while they stayed outside. I'd invite them in but something was stopping them. They would say things like, 'I did some bad thing so I can't come in yet'," he recalls.

Figaredo said he can understand why they turned to Christianity instead of Buddhism, the predominant faith in Cambodia.

"In Christianity, there is forgiveness and there is hope," he said.

"All depends on God's judgment, and they can try to transform their lives.

"Moreover, Buddhism stresses karma whereas Christianity offers salvation, which may have held more appeal."

Figaredo is also known as Kike or the bishop of the wheelchairs because of his work with people who had lost arms and legs fleeing or fighting with or against the murderous Pol Pot regime.

Source

ucanews.com

Image: facebook.com

It is an unremarkable house, and if tourists happened to be this far off the beaten track they would have little idea that this was the residence of one of the world's greatest war criminals.

I thought back to 1987 when I met a Khmer leader in the Site Two refugee camp on the Thai Cambodian border. I asked him if he could ever imagine a return to government in Cambodia. He looked very sad as he told me how the Khmer Rouge had killed most of his immediate family. He could not trust the Khmer Rouge again.

I had the sense that he would find it hard to trust any of his fellow Cambodians ever again in rebuilding his nation from such ruins. Reconciliation was a fashionable textbook concept.

Twenty five years later, there is a certain routine to life in Cambodia, though poverty in the villages is widespread and government corruption legendary.

The previous evening I had been asked to address a multi-faith group of NGO and Church workers on faith, justice and public policy. What could I, a Catholic priest from Australia, say about such matters in a largely Buddhist country devastated by genocide?

Whether Christian, Buddhist, or Muslim, faith is about my having, owning and reflecting on a belief system which allows me to live fully with the paradoxes and conflicts of life and death, good and evil, beauty and suffering. It is only fundamentalists who are able to live as if these paradoxes are not real, as if they do not impinge on our sense of self and on our considered actions every day. Continue reading

Sources

• Fr Frank Brennan S.J. in Eureka Street
• Image: John D Ciorciari