Catholic Church in Cambodia

As a way to further add introductory knowledge, I thought I would talk a bit about the Church in Cambodia – as that is also a recurring question. A Portuguese Dominican was the first person to bring Christianity to Cambodia, way back in 1555. The first Khmer person to be ordained in Cambodia occurred in 1957. Shortly afterwards, when Pol Pot came to power with the Khmer Rouge, all but two of the 121 church buildings in the country were destroyed. As with all religion, the Catholic Church became non-existent in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. Many committed religious folks were killed. The Catholic Church officially returned to Cambodia in 1990 – with a decree from the government. The church is significantly smaller with only 20 official Catholic Church buildings.


There are currently around 20,000 Catholics living in Cambodia – depending on who you talk to, this head-count varies. 14,000ish are native Vietnamese and make up the largest percentage of Catholics. 5,000 are Khmer, or native Cambodians. 1,000 are Ex-Patriots – people like me that are living and working in the country.


Maryknoll is specifically responsible for tending to the needs of the English-speaking Catholics by request of the local bishop. Service in Cambodia, however, draws those from many Christian traditions on Sunday, as the ex-patriot community is religiously diverse and not all have churches which they can attend in Cambodia. On any given Sunday, the Catholic Mass will have Catholics but may also have Lutherans, Anglicans, Episcopalians, and even Mennonites! The current Bishop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia was the third youngest to be appointed to the position at 35 years old, I believe, and is a native of France. Maryknoll was one of the first religious organizations to re-enter the country after the governmental decree in 1990. The community I will be joining consists of two Maryknoll priests, five Maryknoll Sisters, eight lay-people (one of whom is a diocesan priest), and two Filipina Lay Missioners.