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| Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler (center) with other bishops at his first Mass after his episcopal installation |
Published Date: March 24, 2010
The day after his episcopal ordination and installation as coadjutor apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh, Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler traveled three hours to a village to draw strength from the “Land of Martyrs.”
“For me, martyrs are the Church’s strength and an example for new Catholics to continue the evangelization mission,” he told some 300 Catholics from across the country who gathered for his first Mass after his installation. The March 21 Mass was held in Taing Kok village, Kompong Thom province.
“This place is very special to me. This is the starting point of my task as a bishop, to get inspiration from the faith of the martyrs of the Cambodian Church and to show that we are part of the history of Cambodia.”
It was in Taing Kok that Bishop Joseph Salas, who was apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh and the first and so far only Cambodian-born bishop, died in 1977 while doing hard labor under the Khmer Rouge. The small village, where many other Catholics including priests also perished, has become a place of pilgrimage.
“Though the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot killed the Church in the 1970s, the faith of Catholics did not die,” Bishop Schmitthaeusler asserted.
He recalled the words the father of Father Paul Tep Im Sotha, the former prefect of Battambang who was also killed by the Khmer Rouge in 1975, said to the communist officials: “You can take everything from me but not my faith in God, which is my strength.”
Moung Ros, 30, a seminarian said, “I think the bishop wanted to express his intention to be a witness, like the martyrs.”
He hoped the new bishop will develop the church develop and introduce new faces because “he is young and strong.”
“He has prepared himself to serve the Church. On his ordination day, he told us that he wanted to say ‘Our Nation, Our Country and Our Friends;’ this means that his heart is that of a Cambodian. He loves Cambodia.”
After the ceremony, Bishop Schmitthaeusler went into a straw house that was once home to Bishop Salas.
Yu Prakot, a sister of the late bishop, said she “was very excited about the new bishop coming here to honor the martyrs and to serve the church in Cambodia”.
Paris Foreign Mission Bishop Schmitthaeusler, 39, was ordained and installed apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh on March 20 at Don Bosco Technical School in Phnom Penh.
“For me, martyrs are the Church’s strength and an example for new Catholics to continue the evangelization mission,” he told some 300 Catholics from across the country who gathered for his first Mass after his installation. The March 21 Mass was held in Taing Kok village, Kompong Thom province.
“This place is very special to me. This is the starting point of my task as a bishop, to get inspiration from the faith of the martyrs of the Cambodian Church and to show that we are part of the history of Cambodia.”
It was in Taing Kok that Bishop Joseph Salas, who was apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh and the first and so far only Cambodian-born bishop, died in 1977 while doing hard labor under the Khmer Rouge. The small village, where many other Catholics including priests also perished, has become a place of pilgrimage.
“Though the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot killed the Church in the 1970s, the faith of Catholics did not die,” Bishop Schmitthaeusler asserted.
He recalled the words the father of Father Paul Tep Im Sotha, the former prefect of Battambang who was also killed by the Khmer Rouge in 1975, said to the communist officials: “You can take everything from me but not my faith in God, which is my strength.”
Moung Ros, 30, a seminarian said, “I think the bishop wanted to express his intention to be a witness, like the martyrs.”
He hoped the new bishop will develop the church develop and introduce new faces because “he is young and strong.”
“He has prepared himself to serve the Church. On his ordination day, he told us that he wanted to say ‘Our Nation, Our Country and Our Friends;’ this means that his heart is that of a Cambodian. He loves Cambodia.”
After the ceremony, Bishop Schmitthaeusler went into a straw house that was once home to Bishop Salas.
Yu Prakot, a sister of the late bishop, said she “was very excited about the new bishop coming here to honor the martyrs and to serve the church in Cambodia”.
Paris Foreign Mission Bishop Schmitthaeusler, 39, was ordained and installed apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh on March 20 at Don Bosco Technical School in Phnom Penh.
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