austraLasia #3089
Archbishop Charles Bo preaches Cambodian Clergy Retreat
SIHANOUKVILLE: 20 June 2012 -- The annual retreat for Cambodian clergy was preached this year by the Salesian Archbishop of Yangon, Charles Maung Bo. 47 priests of the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh, and the prefectures of Kompong Cham and Battambang, attended the already traditional spiritual meeting of one week at the retreat house in Saint Michael's Parish in Sihanoukville last week (June 11-15).
The host was the Bishop of Phnom Penh, Mgr. Oliviere Schmitthaeusler. The bishops of Battambang and Kompong Cham, Enrique Figaredo and Antonysamy Susairaj, respectively, were also present for an occasion that the Cambodian Catholic Church considers a golden time of renewal, reflection and motivation in its apostolic mission in the Kingdom.
The retreat was also attended, as every year, by our Salesian Brother Roberto Panetto, who was also responsible for bringing the Retreat to a close with a fraternal dinner at the Don Bosco Hotel restaurant. 19 priests at the retreat also stayed at the Don Bosco Hotel School.
'Archbishop Bo preached well, and also used film with his meditations,' he said of his retreat experience with the Burmese Salesian Archbishop who was making his first visit to Cambodia.
Saint Michael's church, located on a hill just in front of the only deep sea international port in Cambodia, was built in the 1950s by French sailors willing to have Mass while staying in the new port. It is also one of the few churches preserved from the destruction of war and the persecutions of the Khmer Rouge regime. Currently, the former Bishop of Phnom Phen, Bishop Yves Ramousse, resides in this parish. He was the Bishop when the Khmer Rouge guerrillas took power in Cambodia in April 1975, expelling all foreigners from the country and executing or eliminating most of the native clergy, including Bishop Joseph Sala, who died of exhaustion in a concentration camp in Kompong Thom. Bishop Ramousse has been asked by the Catholic Cambodian Church to trace the survival of Catholic faithful during that troublesome time and look for cases worthy of martyrdom status.
Archbishop Charles Bo preaches Cambodian Clergy Retreat
The host was the Bishop of Phnom Penh, Mgr. Oliviere Schmitthaeusler. The bishops of Battambang and Kompong Cham, Enrique Figaredo and Antonysamy Susairaj, respectively, were also present for an occasion that the Cambodian Catholic Church considers a golden time of renewal, reflection and motivation in its apostolic mission in the Kingdom.
The retreat was also attended, as every year, by our Salesian Brother Roberto Panetto, who was also responsible for bringing the Retreat to a close with a fraternal dinner at the Don Bosco Hotel restaurant. 19 priests at the retreat also stayed at the Don Bosco Hotel School.
'Archbishop Bo preached well, and also used film with his meditations,' he said of his retreat experience with the Burmese Salesian Archbishop who was making his first visit to Cambodia.
Saint Michael's church, located on a hill just in front of the only deep sea international port in Cambodia, was built in the 1950s by French sailors willing to have Mass while staying in the new port. It is also one of the few churches preserved from the destruction of war and the persecutions of the Khmer Rouge regime. Currently, the former Bishop of Phnom Phen, Bishop Yves Ramousse, resides in this parish. He was the Bishop when the Khmer Rouge guerrillas took power in Cambodia in April 1975, expelling all foreigners from the country and executing or eliminating most of the native clergy, including Bishop Joseph Sala, who died of exhaustion in a concentration camp in Kompong Thom. Bishop Ramousse has been asked by the Catholic Cambodian Church to trace the survival of Catholic faithful during that troublesome time and look for cases worthy of martyrdom status.
