A Soccer Match Against Cluster Munitions and Landmines

08/20/2012
Katherine Marshall
Senior Fellow, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University
Huffington Post

The London Olympics were in full swing on Aug. 5, but in Battambang, Cambodia, on the other side of the world, the Oslo Cup pitted four soccer (or football, as it's called in Cambodia) teams against each other. The winners? Team Landmine and Cluster Munitions Survivors. It was an awesome match, worthy of the Olympic ideals of excellence, respect and friendship. The match finished in drenching rain, stretching into overtime. Among the heroes was one young man who used his head instead of the arms he had lost in a landmine accident to shoot a goal.

The tournament took place on the sprawling grounds of the Catholic Church in Battambang. Jesuit priest Father Enrique Figaredo (known as Father Kike) is the Apostolic Prefect there. He has worked in Cambodia almost non-stop since 1985. He works closely with the Jesuit Refugee Service, Cambodia, which has a long, distinguished track record. Jesuits were among the first foreigners to return to Cambodia from the refugee camps on the Thai border after the brutal years of killing under the Khmer Rouge and its aftermath. The Jesuit Service Cambodia has been and remains a leader in the International Campaign to ban landmines and cluster munitions. Indeed, the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to the Campaign lives at the Metta Karuna Reflection Center in Siem Reap.

Inter-faith perspectives on justice and reconciliation in Cambodia

May 15, 2012
Frank Brennan
EurekaStreet.com.au

It's a great honour to be back here in Cambodia. I first met some of you in Site Two camp on the Thai border back in 1987. Bishop Kike was a young Jesuit scholastic starting work in the camp for the handicapped. I first came to Cambodia in 1995 at the invitation of Sr Denise to assist with drawing up a protocol between JRS and UNHCR. I was here most recently two years ago when the reflection centre here was being fully established. The floor had just been put down in the Chapel and the woman at the well had just taken up here place in the garden.

What can I, a Catholic priest from Australia, say about faith, social justice and public policy here in Cambodia which is a largely Buddhist country? Whether we be Christian, Buddhist, or Muslim (and there are happily representatives here of all those faiths this evening), 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.

By embracing these paradoxes and confronting these conflicts, the person of faith whether inspired by Jesus, Mohammed, or Buddha is able to live a life of faith. I am able to commit myself to others, in love and in justice. I am able to accord dignity to all others in the human family, no matter what their distinguishing marks, and regardless of their competencies, achievements or potentialities. I am able to surrender myself to that which is beyond what I know through my senses. I am able to commit myself to the stewardship of all creation. The atheist, the person with no faith except in man himself, may do all these things with varying degrees of success. Suffice to say, I cannot imagine being committed to these life tasks so comprehensively and so universally except with faith. Some atheists are amongst the finest, most generous humanitarians I know. But I know that my faith enhances my humanitarian instincts and achievements. I would be a lesser person without my religious faith. For example I would find it difficult to accord full human dignity to persons at either end of the life cycle but for the abiding conviction that every person is uniquely created in the image and likeness of God.

"Do not deprive your peoples of hope! Do not cut them off from their future by mutilating their present!": Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI walks alongside children at Saint Rita's Parish in Cotonou

Pope in Africa condemns graft, labels AIDS an ethical issue

November 20, 2011
By Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere
AFP

Addressing politicians, religious leaders and diplomats, he also said: "From this place, I launch an appeal to all political and economic leaders of African countries and the rest of the world.

"Do not deprive your peoples of hope! Do not cut them off from their future by mutilating their present!"

Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday labelled AIDS an "ethical problem" and condemned corruption as he laid out a vision for his Church's future in Africa on his second visit to the continent.

Benedict signed off on a 135-page roadmap for the Roman Catholic Church in Africa at a basilica in the Benin city of Ouidah, a centre of voodoo, with the Temple of Pythons and its 30-odd snakes just across the street.

He signed the document on the second day of a three-day visit to Benin, a voodoo heartland and Catholic bastion where thousands have greeted him joyously since his arrival on Friday in the West African nation.

Church struggles to help flood victims

Flooding in Cambodia

Exceptional floods kill 200, wreck communications

October 14, 2011
ucanews.com reporter, Phnom Penh
Cambodia

As the worst floods in more than a decade sweep the country, the Church is struggling to deliver effective aid, even to its own community.

Caritas has been distributing food, drinking water and temporary shelters, bringing relief to 7,000 families in six provinces. Their effort went into action late last month and is continuing.

St Joseph Parish in Phnom Penh has been helping the cause since early October, collecting donations and providing staples such as rice, soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar to 500 affected families along the Mekong River.

Vatican sends annual Message to Buddhists for Vesakh

Thursday, March 31, 2011
Source: VIS

Made public today was the annual Message to Buddhists for the Feast of Vesakh, issued by the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. This year Vesakh, the most important Buddhist festivity, is celebrated on 8 April in Japan, on 10 May in Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Singapore, and on 17 May in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.

In the message, which is entitled: 'Seeking Truth in Freedom: Christians and Buddhists live in Peace', Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, respectively president and secretary of the pontifical council, note that "in the pursuit of authentic peace, a commitment to seek truth is a necessary condition. ... This human striving for truth offers a fruitful opportunity for the followers of the different religions to encounter one another in depth and to grow in appreciation of the gifts of each".

The English-language text continues: "In today's world, marked by forms of secularism and fundamentalism that are often inimical to true freedom and spiritual values, inter-religious dialogue can be the alternative choice by which we find the 'golden way' to live in peace and work together for the good of all. ... Such dialogue is also a powerful stimulus to respect for the fundamental human rights of freedom of conscience and freedom of worship. Wherever religious freedom is effectively acknowledged, the dignity of the human person is respected at its root; by the sincere search for what is true and good, moral conscience and civil institutions are strengthened; and justice and peace are firmly established".

Border clash sets back Mekong aid work

Cambodian villagers displaced by the fighting (Photo courtesy of Caritas Cambodia)

Territorial dispute is disrupting development and endangering migrants, rights network warns

February 17, 2011
UCAnews.com reporter
Bangkok, Thailand

Recent border clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops have set back gains made in recent years in developing the local people and the region, say civil organizations.

“We believed and hoped that our region was moving forwards, was moving away from conflicts and sorrows. But the situation today between Cambodia and Thailand is moving us back not forwards,” the Mekong Migration Network said today in a statement.

The current conflict between Thailand and Cambodia has already claimed nine lives and displaced over 25,000 villagers. The network is deeply concerned for the well-being of thousands of displaced Cambodians and Thais whose lives have been severely disrupted by the clashes, it said.

Church rues ‘needless deaths’ on borderBishops call for a negotiated settlement to temple dispute with Thailand

Cambodian villagers displaced by border fighting (Photo courtesy of Caritas Cambodia)

February 16, 2011
Phat Samphy, Phnom Penh
UCAnews

The Catholic Church in Cambodia says it deeply regrets the “needless loss of human life” during border clashes with Thailand last week and appealed for a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

The fighting has also caused “serious injuries, the destruction of sacred places and irreparable damage to a world heritage site,” a February 14 statement said.

“The Catholic Church of Cambodia calls on all communities, national and international organizations to urgently cooperate at all levels to help stop conflict around the Preah Vihear Temple,” said the statement signed by Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler, apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh.

Don Bosco Sihanoukville Technical School

February 1, 2011
Catholic News Asia

The Don Bosco Technical School of Sihanoukville sees its mission as a direct response to poverty through holistic professional education.

“Our enterprise responds to the needs of disadvantaged Cambodian youth by offering them a high quality, free professional education through the Salesian Preventive System, which prepares them for work and for life, with benefit to Cambodia and potentially to other societies,” the school’s website states.

The school was opened in 1997 in Sihanoukville to attend children and youth from poor backgrounds of the southern provinces of Cambodia: Koh Kong, Sihanoukville, Kampot and Takaew. The Project is a technical school where young boys and girls can learn a skill along two years such as electricity, mechanic, auto mechanic and welding for boys, secretariat for girls and hotel school for boys and girls.

Bringing compassionate touch to Cambodian kids

SATISFACTION - Mike Norman holds an infant at Our Village. "I think my two weeks there gives me more satisfaction than anything else I do," he says.

MASSAGE LINE --- A Heart Touch volunteer massages a boy as she gets an impromptu rub herself.

For three years, Religious Education leader Mike Norman has traveled to a remote Southeast Asian orphanage to give healing massages to HIV-positive children.

Friday, January 7, 2011

By R. W. DELLINGER

Tidings

Touch is something babies need, children crave and adults long for. In fact, it's critical for the emotional, physical and spiritual well-being of every human being.

Mike Norman, associate director of the Office of Religious Education who oversees youth programs, has found this out first hand. For the last three years as a volunteer with "Heart Touch," he's traveled with a team to an orphanage in Cambodia that cares for more than 200 HIV-positive children. At the 18-acre compound divided into eight large family-style units, the men and women who are mostly professional massage therapists practice the art of compassionate touch therapy. The results are often nothing short of miraculous.

Cambodia: Christmas of solidarity, just as the Gospel teaches

Thi (Photo: Fr. Luca Bolelli)

12/30/2010
By Fr. Luca Bolelli
AsiaNews.it

Thi wanted to go home for Christmas, but neither she nor her family could afford the cost of the trip. So her friend Srey On decided to gift her the ticket, despite the fact her salary is barely enough to feed her and her family. The Gospel in the midst of daily poverty, a story told by a PIME missionary.

Kdol Leu (AsiaNews) - Fr Luca Bolelli, 35, from Bologna, Italy, is a PIME missionary who has been in Cambodia for 3 years. At Christmas, he wrote to AsiaNews.

I returned to Cambodia after passing the summer in Italy, intense days where I was able to see so many of you, unfortunately it was not possible to see many others, and for this I am sincerely sorry. I resumed my life Kdol Leu, on the banks of the Mekong River, along with Father Ivan and the people of these lands.

The last few weeks have seen us busy preparing for Christmas. There is a tradition in Leu Kdol of staging the Nativity in front of the church. Villagers from surrounding villages come in large numbers, curious to see the play, though not Christians. Each year the young people prepare some plays and traditional dances for the occasion. It is truly a special feast. Those from our village who left to look for work or study far away try to be present, although 25 December is not a public holiday in Cambodia.

Thi is also among them. Thi is a young Vietnamese girl who has worked for two years here with us at church, helping in household chores and preparing the "bobo" rice for the nursery school children. Then last summer she crowned a dream, when it became possible for her to resume her studies that she had to leave at first grade. Being the eldest of seven children from a very poor family, even as a child, she had to think of them first of all. Now that their situation is a bit 'more stable, here brothers and sisters have all grown, and her parents have allowed her to study for two years with the Salesian Sisters in Battambang, a large city practically on the other side of Cambodia.

A few days before Christmas, Thi called me all happy, "Father, I will be home for Christmas”. I called her mother and together we phoned Thi, but then came the disappointment. Her parents did not have the money to pay for her ticket home from Battambang, plus the rice season has just begun and there are very few riel to spare. "Patience," said Thi "it doesn’t matter." That same evening at dinner and I spoke of what happened to Srey On and Darong [pictured], who know Thi well. Darong also has a very difficult family situation, we helping him as much as possible and it is deeply moving to see the effort he puts into study, especially English, with which he struggles greatly. Srey On took Thi’s job here at the mission. They are very similar: she could not study and so reads and writes with difficulty, but she is a girl of immense sensitivity and her concern for others is truly astonishing. A few weeks ago we decided to increase her salary because she works twice as much as had been originally established, and at home her mother is very ill (her father abandoned them when the children were still small).

Srey On asked me: "How much is a ticket from Battambang?". "About 30 thousand riel (ie, little more than 6 euro)" I replied. She thinks for a moment and then says, "I’ll give Thi money to come home for Christmas." I was amazed. 30 thousand riel is a lot of money, especially here in the countryside. Srey On never spends more than 5 thousand a day on food for herself and her mother, more than half of the raise we had given her. She could have spent it in a thousand other ways, or put it away for a rainy day, but ...

So I called Thi to give her the good news, she thanks us but does not want to come, having thought about it, she feels its too much money. So I pass her to Srey On, they speak together for a few minutes, and in the end Thi tells me: "Father, I’ll come and see you at Christmas." I'm overjoyed, her brothers and sisters can’t wait to see her, none of us can. I remember the act of Srey On, small and insignificant like the widow in the Gospel story, who offers two small coins for the Temple and no one notices except Jesus: "She put more than all the others because she gave everything she has to live on" . She could have kept them, she is poor, she had every right. Instead, she choose to give her money anyway.

Finally Christmas Eve arrived, the young people were ready to stage the Nativity and dances prepared in recent months. A lot of people came this year. Every so often I would scan the crowd to see if Thi had already arrived. But it was already dark, the ferry must have stopped service by now. Where was Thi? Her mother asks me too. I guessed that the bus from Battambang arrived late and she was forced to find shelter for the night, perhaps in Kompong Cham, the capital of our province. Not even Ciuri, one of her sisters who studies with the Salesians in Phnom Penh, is unable to return in time for the celebration. A bad infection in her hand meant she had to remain in Kompong Cham, a "short walk" from home. The evening of the 24, she had to undergo a small emergency operation.

Christmas morning and still no news yet of Thi, strange because transport from Kompong Cham had already been running for some time. After Mass I phone for news of her sister, and who does she pass me? Only Thi! She met Ciuri Christmas Eve in Kompong Cham and decided to stay to keep her company. What a girl Thi, I think to myself, you have not changed. You gave up something that you deeply desired for your sister.

I alert her father and mother who immediately search for a bike to borrow to visit their daughters. Just before sunset the father returns with Thi, her mother has decided to relieve her to take over. The embrace between Thi and Srey On made me think of what I imagine Mary and Elizabeth felt when they were pregnant with Jesus and John the Baptist.

Cambodia Catholics visit water festival victims

Father Bruno Cosme (in the foreground) and other Catholics visit those injured in hospital

November 29, 2010
By Keo Kagnha, Phnom Penh
UCANews.com

Phnom Penh Catholics have responded to last week’s Water Festival tragedy which killed at least 375 revelers by organizing hospital visits to survivors of the deadly stampede.

“We come here to share the sorrow,” said Sang Yeth, a member of the charity committee of St. Joseph’s Church.

On Nov. 26, she led a group parishioners to Preah Ketomilia Hospital in the capital where more than 40 of the injured were hospitalized.

Hundreds more injured are being treated at two other hospitals.

The parishioners also distributed 40,000 riel (about US$10) to each victim, most of whom were poor farmers who came from the provinces to celebrate the Water Festival in the capital.

Sam Sotom, who was caring for her three injured sons, told ucanews.com that she was grateful for the Church’s support.

Local priest Father Bruno Cosme added that the Catholic group wanted to show their solidarity with the victims.

“We take time to talk, to encourage people to give hope even though we don’t have much time with them,” he said.

Parishioners and students from Don Bosco schools in Cambodia are also collecting money to assist the victims.

Meanwhile, Caritas Cambodia has joined with other NGOs to provide daily meals to 450 patients in five hospitals where the injured have been admitted.

“We are doing this because the hospitals could not provide food for them,” explained Sok Sakhan, the Caritas disaster management officer.

Earlier on Nov. 25, all Catholic churches in Cambodia offered Mass and prayed for the victims of the tragedy.

Cambodian Catholics plan special Mass for victims of bridge stampede

By Catholic News Service

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – The Catholic Church in Cambodia planned a special Mass for victims of a bridge stampede during the Water Festival on Diamond Island in Phnom Penh, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News.

The chaos Nov. 22 that killed more than 375 people and injured at least 755 was seen as the biggest tragedy for Cambodians since the Pol Pot regime, said Prime Minister Hun Sen. The government announced it will give 5 million riel ($1,230) to each family of the dead for transporting the bodies. It also scheduled Nov. 25 as a national day of mourning.

Catholic Church officials said they would offer a special Mass for the dead Nov. 25 at Psataught Church in the capital.

Caritas Cambodia is on standby if further help is needed, said Sok Sakhan, disaster management officer, noting the injured were being treated by the government and at various hospitals.

Chhem Chhean, a 25-year-old victim, said all she remembered amid the concerts, boat races and fireworks was that people started pushing each other to get away from the bridge.

The cause of the tragedy is unclear.

The Associated Press reported that most of the dead had suffocated or been trampled or crushed to death on the bridge, which became so tightly packed that survivors later said they had been unable to move or even to breathe. AP reported that some of the dead had drowned or were killed when they leaped from the bridge into the water of the Bassac River or onto nearby concrete pilings.

The Water Festival on Diamond Island, located in the confluence of Cambodia’s four main rivers in Phnom Penh, is an annual event for Cambodians.

Higher education made possible for Cambodians [by the Catholic Students Center]

Scholars at the Catholic Students Center in Phnom Penh

November 11, 2010
By Phat Samphy, Phnom Penh
UCANews

Sok Pongsametrey, 28, works as a project manager in a computer company in Phnom Penh, where he earns a monthly salary of US$800.

But according to him, finishing his studies would not be possible had it not been for the help of a Catholic Students Center.

“If there was no such center, I would have had to struggle very hard just to live,” he added.

Kim Khonlang, a student of the Royal University of Law and Economics, is also thankful for the center’s spiritual support. “The Catholic Students Center changed my life.”

For many rural Cambodians like Sok and Kim, getting a university degree is a big challenge due to widespread poverty. However, higher education is crucial for the country as it recovers from underdevelopment as a result of decades of civil conflict that ended in the 90s.

A Catholic Students Center in Phnom Penh was set up more than 10 years ago to give a chance to poor but deserving rural students to complete higher education. The center provides scholarships, accommodation and exposure to Christian values.

“The local Church needs to contribute toward developing human resources in the country,” explained Catholic Students Center coordinator Father John Even Ashley.

The priest said the Church wants to see a future with professionals imbibed with Christian values serving the country.

The 127 students who have benefited from the center since 1999 now work in various companies and NGOs.

About 12 students are admitted to the center every year after passing an examination. They get a scholarship to study at a university in Phnom Penh, accommodation at the center and free use of computer and Internet facilities.

Currently, 49 students live in the center, and not all are Catholic.

Providing a conducive environment for higher studies is the center’s priority, said director Ms. Hun Saren. “We maintain strict discipline, provide psychological support and hygiene training,” she added.

The center’s success has given rise to other similar Church-run centers such as St. Clair Students Center and Center of Justice in Youth Education in Phnom Penh, and Monsignor Paul Tep Im Center in Battambang, northwestern Cambodia.

PIME missionary: What keeps me in Prey Veng [-Another letter from Prey Veng by Fr. Alberto]

Fr. Alberto Caccaro, 10 years in Cambodia, writes about a day in the life of his mission: the hydrocephalus child, the superstition of her relatives, the strength and the presence of Jesus who heals the whole person. Yesterday Fr. Albert received a gold medal from the government for work he is ...

Monday, October 04, 2010

By Asia News

Spero News

Prey Veng, October 1, 2010,

Memorial of St. Therese of Lisieux

"There are no distances with heaven. (...) And even in blood, absurd death there are no unspoken intentions, There is no reason that it is not Love".[1]

A few weeks ago we were called by a family that lives in open paddy fields, 40 miles northeast of Prey Veng. When these calls reach us we already know that the situation involves a sick person or a particular need. So I asked Sister Marie to go to in my stead. She is a nurse and has the expertise to evaluate these cases.

On arriving at the village, she was met with a baby girl of eight months, suffering from hydrocephalus. The grandparents and a handful of other children were with the baby. It seemed however that her parents, according to the grandparents, had gone abroad in search of work, in order to provide for their child. But we do not know if they are in Thailand or Malaysia and in any case, so far, we have had no news, no help. The baby was fine; it was just the weight of her head, too big for her little body.

Thank God there is a lay missionary in Phnom Penh, Paola, who is always willing to respond to our requests. We then brought the girl to her for further tests. Who knows for what strange and yet probably common natural phenomenon that it had not rained in the village for some time. The farmers were anxiously waiting for water so they could begin to cultivate the rice fields. No sooner had the baby girl been brought to Phnom Penh, then it began to rain in the village.

Inevitably that people associated the coming of the rains with the baby girl’s departure from the village. Perhaps she was the cause of the curse that kept the rain in the sky. I will not dwell on the meaning of such an interpretation, the result of a still widespread animism, where things often carry bad luck or there are often punishments to be served, and I will not judge that from the standpoint of theology or science. My level is much more visceral, my impulse moves from the heart, the heart in all its immediacy, crying along with all the poets, the one essential truth: "There is no reason that it is not Love."

This cry, this deep impulse of my heart is my evangelisation. In the absurd death. Or in the absurd birth, as we could perhaps say of that baby girl, "there are no unspoken intentions; there is no reason that it is not Love”.

It is all I have to say to those two grandparents and the people of the village, "there are no unspoken intentions; there is no reason that it is not Love." And I would encourage them to take care of the child, indicating a deeper level, beyond contempt, resignation or condemnation of them or, worse still, the child: "Do not ask why / there is pain or evil. ”./ Something happened in the beginning, of which / God himself does not speak. / He sent his son to heal it. / This is sufficient. / No one will ever know[2].

I would like to be able to say that Jesus did not explain or erase pain or evil, but suffered it and came to fix it. This is why he never tired of saying, "Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, do not cry, do not despair. ". Your faith has saved you Read the Gospels. It is all so clear. Jesus did not explain evil. He began by remediating and always intervened to treat and, sometimes, to heal. Evangelization is taking care of others.

What keeps me here in Prey Veng, in fact, are not only the theological statements about Jesus as the only Savior and that there is no salvation outside of Him. I believe all of this. But what convinces me to stay is that I am continually moved by the very real way that Jesus exalts man, heals man, the whole man. Even our little girl, who stops the rain, but not his Grace. And in her helpless silence she speaks to us.

At times my head, my heart and my thoughts short-circuit. I run out of explanations for things that happen, I run out of energy to resist in the face of contradictions large or small, personal or collective. It is then that I have to put it all in writing. Stop talking and start writing. And when I write, it is no longer I who speak or command, instead it is Prey Veng that begins to speak. The many stories that I encounter, the people with whom I live, they begin to talk. Only when I really decide to remain silent. Otherwise I manipulate reality, others, just to speak about me. This greatly reduces our vision... It I said as much to the young people who came from Italy as part of the Youth and Mission: “Be patient, give yourselves and give time to things, places, take a break from yourselves, then Prey Veng will begin to talk to you, it will trust ". you. And slowly you will find that the reality already holds your dreamBut it takes time. I like what Herta Muller says, 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature: "Every time I write it is because I reached the point where I do not know what to do, what to do with myself and with my surroundings. "Yes, sometimes I'm sick of my senses. I'm sick of my senses. I'm sick of my brooding. Everything is so messed up that I do not know where external things begin or end. If they are in me or I in them. Pieces of the world begin to break off as if it had swallowed all that I can not carry. I do not know if that child or that story is in me and I in them. It 's like a common destiny.

So here, I become a beggar. I am silent, I confess I kneel and beg for His presence. It is the moment of faith that saves, and I understand that "we are called to look upon all things with a Presence in our eyes. "Since having this Presence in our eyes does not reduce our visual field that has as its object the other, but it is a different and comprehensive way of seeing 'all' of the other.[3]

A few days ago chatting with a confrere about the sense of mission for us priests, I said that we just have to worry about being 'fathers'. This in fact is what they call us. Not only fathers in the church. Fathers also outside. Fathers in society. Fathers for all God's children

I commend to your intercession and the intercession of our dearly beloved who have already preceded us to God, our little community, the church of Saint Benedict, the asylum, school, the many beautiful stories that God tells me. This morning we attended the official opening ceremony of the new school year with all schools in Prey Veng. The authorities have given me a public honor for the work done so far. I am very grateful for this but also a little concerned: Power always does as much. It promotes you, rewards you, it enlists you. But no matter. We must walk together, "everything is patience and waiting / that the Pascal stone will overturn / revealing on one side the tomb / and on the other side the true design / his face bright / the kingdom the kingdom, the kingdom" (Bartolo Cattafi)

Therefore I will hang onto him: "His presence and his company thus decide the perception one has of oneself and of reality”.[4]

Best regards, Father Alberto

-------------

[1]Giuseppe Centore, Ladro d’eternitá, Panda, Padova 1986, p. 51.

[2]Renzo Barsacchi, Marinaio di Dio, Nardini, Florence 1985, p. 73.

[3] Luigi Giussani, Alla ricerca del volto umano, Rizzoli, Milano 1995, p. 76.

[4] Idem , p. 72.

Serving rural students in Cambodia

Men Sotharin, deputy director of St. Paul’s Agriculture and Information Technology Institute in Takeo, Cambodia

September 9, 2010
By Men Sotharin, Takeo
UCANews.com

Men Sotharin is deputy director of the newly opened St. Paul’s Agriculture and Information Technology Institute in Takeo province, the only Church-run tertiary institute in Cambodia.

She was the only Cambodian representative at the recent 18th conference of the Association of Southeast and East Asian Catholic Colleges and Universities, held in Bangkok.

Following are her reflections on the conference, the education situation in her country, and how her newly opened St. Paul’s institute is serving Cambodian students:

The conference of the Association of Southeast and East Asian Colleges and Universities (ASEACCU) in Thailand Aug. 26-28 focused on Caring in Truth: Catholic Perspective in Education Challenges. We discussed the issue of care because Catholic educational institutions have to be at the service of the Church. We are called to be guides for young minds and to care for the next generation.

Discussions at the conference were relevant to the situation in Cambodia, one of which was the challenges posed by globalization.

Cultures and traditions are all being affected as economic activities have become more profit-driven with the focus on manufacturing, technology and services.

In many places, the traditional reverence for persons and the human body has disappeared. The person has now become a commodity, and if we can earn money by selling things, then the human body is no different.

We Catholic educators should explore new avenues in serving the truth and in promoting the dignity of the human person.

Here in Cambodia, we see that young people crave for modernity even though their parents don’t have money. For example, they want to study in Phnom Penh because they are attracted to the modern lifestyle and many entertainment outlets in the city.

That is why we opened St. Paul’s institute in a suburban area.

We realize young people here want to study but they don’t have the chance. Most are from farming families. Many drop out after junior high school because it costs lots of money – school fees, study materials and accommodation, food and water etc – for higher studies in the city.

If their families want to support them, they must sell their property such as cows or rice fields. Many thus choose to stay at home and work in the fields with their families.

Because of these difficulties, we are trying to help young people receive higher-level education so they can enjoy more job opportunities.

Here in Takeo, the Catholic Church has a new high school – St. Francis’ – and an institute – St. Paul’s.

Our mission is not only providing skills but also help foster love and a fraternal spirit among students. We also try to teach students solidarity and honesty, which make us different from other schools.

St. Paul’s institute, which started in 2009, has classes of 80 students each in its agricultural science and information technology programs.

The school also provides free hostel accommodation for poor students from other provinces.

After they graduate, they can earn up to US$300 per month, which is good enough to lift them from poverty. With this they can support their parents and siblings, or continue studies in the university.

But we are not free from problems. For example, within the first few months of enrolment, more than 10 students dropped out due to various reasons.

We have not started moral education classes yet. But we talk to students and explain the importance of studying in the local area rather than migrating to the city.

Next year, we are going to teach two more subjects – tourism studies and English language. And we are going to start a weekend course leading to a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.

Cambodian community misses friend at Long Beach Catholic parish

Mt. Carmel Cambodian Catholic Church, 1851 Cerritos Ave., Long Beach. (Stephen Carr / Press-Telegram)

VOID: April departure of pastoral director leaves center desolate.

07/28/2010
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)

LONG BEACH - For 18 years, members of the Cambodian community knew they could always wander over to the small church near Martin Luther King Jr. Park if they wanted a sympathetic ear or sage counsel.

But not anymore.

Mary Blatz, the pastoral director at Mt. Carmel Cambodian Center since 1992, left in April when she says Catholic church leadership decided it "had a different use" for Mt. Carmel, which has been a cornerstone in the Khmer community since Blatz took the reins.

Blatz doesn't like to talk about the specifics of her departure, and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles would only say Blatz's departure was a personnel matter and could not be discussed.

The Archdiocese also said little about future plans for the parish, which as a mission does not have a regular priest. It holds Mass once a month and prayer services on Fridays conducted by clergy from St. Anthony Church. In an e-mail, an Archdiocese spokesman said there were no plans to close Mt. Carmel.

Most days, the property seems deserted except for several no trespassing signs.

This is in contrast to recent years, when Blatz and Cambodian and other community members could almost always be found on the premises in a buzz of activity.

Blatz helped Cambodians with literacy, citizenship and deportation issues, medical information, connecting them with social services or whatever came across her desk.

The house next to the church, where Blatz resided, was part domicile, part office, part drop-in center.

Since 2007, the fledgling nonprofit Friends of Mt. Carmel, of which Blatz is president, dealt with a number of social issues, while the church ministered to spiritual needs.

When Cambodian seniors wanted to start a garden, Blatz wrote a grant with the City of Long Beach and turned over a portion of the back property.

When Blatz left, the seniors had to move their garden into pots which are now tended behind the gymnasium at McBride Park.

However, in recent years Blatz felt a strain between what she saw as her pastoral calling and church rules.

Fundamental to that was providing shelter.

Blatz often let displaced and destitute residents sleep on the property, which she said was against church rules.

They were people like Kea Cheng, who wandered in, in need of medical and legal help and a place to stay. He lived on the premises and helped prepare meals and performed other duties until Blatz left.

The help Blatz provided could be unofficial and off the books, but she says it was nonetheless vital.

"We've helped a lot of people to transition (into the mainstream). We couldn't do that in the church anymore," Blatz said.

Although Blatz left the employ of the church, she says her faith remains.

"I don't want social and pastoral needs to separate, but I can't do anything about that now," Blatz said.

Blatz says her work with Cambodians will continue.

"We're trying to relocate," Blatz said from an office at the UCC Plaza.

Blatz said her goal is to find an apartment or property where needy community members can stay.

At a recent event with Cambodian seniors, Blatz said several members mentioned they had gone to Mt. Carmel in search of her and wondered where she was now.

"I said `I'm up in the air,"' Blatz said with a laugh. "I'm up in the air, but I'm hoping to land."

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

Battambang, education and catechism priorities of a growing Church

07/21/2010
AsiaNews.it

One hundred adults are baptised per year in the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, but more catechists are needed. Over 10 years Mgr. Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzales has founded schools, hospitals and centres to help the most marginalized classes of society. Bishop: "The priority is education and we must do more. I would say we are so far 50% successful”.

Phnom Penh (AsiaNews / Agencies) - "I see that people need education in Cambodia, so this is our priority”, says Mgr. Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzales (pictured), the Spanish Jesuit bishop, who for 10 years has headed of the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, in an interview published on the web site of the Catholic Church in Cambodia (http://catholiccambodia.org).

The Cambodian Church has about 19 thousand faithful and three districts: the Vicariate of Phnom Penh, the Prefecture of Kompong Cham and Battambang. The communist regime of Pol Pot between 1975 and 1979 has wiped out the Church's presence, destroying all the sacred buildings and preventing all religious practice. With the fall of the Khmer Rouge, religious freedom has returned to the country. The institutional presence of the church dates to 1992 when Mgr. Yves Ramousse became apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh.

"In these ten years - said Mgr. Alvargonzales - we focused on the education of poor children from kindergarten to primary school. At least they can learn to read and count. But we also finance some young people to enable them to attend secondary school and university. Promoting traditional culture and like the Khmer dances”.

One hundred adults are baptised per year in the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, but more catechists are needed: "In 2010 we have already baptized 200 – he continues - but we need catechists. I want to build a school to educate them, the problem is that we do not have funds to pay for them. Our people are mostly poor farmers who earn very little".

Besides education, the Church in Battambang is committed to supporting the most marginalized classes of society: "We have opened schools for disabled children, to teach women to sew and hospitals to assist patients. Some Catholics, including former prisoners, work in rice fields owned by the Church. This helps to stop them from going across the border to look for work".

For Mgr. Alvargonzales, the record of the past 10 years is satisfactory: "We must do more, I would say we are so far 50% successful. I want married Catholics to become more involved in Church life, just like the young are".

Caritas marks 20 years of service in Cambodia

A Caritas worker in Cambodia distributing food aid. Caritas is currently celebrating its 20th year in Cambodia.

June 17, 2010
Source: Ucanews.com

Caritas Cambodia will spend US$16 million over the next five years to help develop communities in the country, its executive director said yesterday while celebrating the agency’s 20th anniversary.

The Catholic Church’s social service arm will continue its work in the community and in disaster relief programs as well as rights-based approaches to gender equality and justice that it has launched over the past two decades, said Kim Ratana.

Ratana addressed 500 people including government officials, Caritas staff and villagers at the June 15 ceremony. Participants, Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An, guest of honor at the event, praised Caritas for its work.

The government is grateful to Caritas for its efforts to reduce poverty in the country, with its projects to develop agriculture, education and health care, said An.

Nheuk Savon, a 49-year-old farmer from Siem Reap province, said Caritas has been present in his village since 2002. “We received support to plant rice, rear chickens and grow vegetables. Our living standard has improved,” he said.

“Caritas created … community empowerment programs to encourage poor people to earn a living,” said Monsignor Enrique Figaredo, chairperson of Caritas Cambodia.

“As a result, they have the ability to develop themselves by making products,” said the Jesuit priest who is also apostolic prefect of Battambang.

In 1972, the Catholic Church in Cambodia launched an aid commission to help war victims. This commission took on the name of Caritas Cambodia.

It stopped functioning in April 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took control of the country.

On March 22, 1990, Bishop Emile Destombes, apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh , re-established Caritas Cambodia with the help of Caritas Internationalis and Caritas France and in cooperation with the Cambodian government.

Church microfinance scheme is ‘Good News’ to poor

Workers keeping track of savings at the Church-run credit union

May 17, 2010
UCAN

A Church-run microfinance program introduced more than three years ago is helping to improve the livelihoods of many poor people in a parish in Cambodia’s capital.

“Last year, when my motorbike broke down, I thought I would have to take my children out of school, but luckily I was able to borrow 500,000 riel (US$118) from the credit union to repair my motorbike enabling my children to continue their studies,” said Meas Putry, a motorcycle taxi driver.

Putry is a signed-up member of the credit union of St. Joseph Church in Phnom Penh.

The program provides loans to poor people at the cheapest rate, said Saing Yuth, a former teacher and credit union administrator. She said loans are fixed at 1 per cent interest per month and without the need to provide collateral. Other credit institutions usually demand interest repayments of 4-5 per cent a month, she noted.

As well as the loan service, the Church credit union also has a savings account program, which gives savers an interest rate of 3 per cent per annum.

Parish priest Father Paul Roeung Chatchai introduced the credit and savings program in early 2007. “The Church’s main mission is to proclaim the Good News to the people. Our credit union is one way of doing this by providing a lifeline to poor people when they face difficult situations,” said the priest from the Thai Missionary Society.

Another objective, Father Roeung added, is to encourage and teach the local community to support each other and be less financially dependent on their families.

Initially starting with 30 members with savings totaling 170,000 riel, the program now has 170 members and 16 million riel’s worth of savings. A large amount of this is deposited in a commercial bank to earn interest.

“Our members can deposit as little as 1,000 riel per week into their savings account,” said Father Chatchai, adding that the Church has a 12-member committee that manages the program.

Putry says he now has 2 million riel in his account. “I thank God that this program has been introduced in our community,” he said.

In Cambodia there are 27 commercial banks, six specialist banks and 21 licensed micro credit institutions, according to a National Bank of Cambodia report.

CAMBODIA: Missioner priests face heavy workload

Bishop Emile Destombes, (second from right), praying in front of an image of Saint John Mary Vianney at the St. John Mary Vianney Major Seminary on June 19

July 9, 2009

PHNOM PENH (UCAN) -- In Cambodia, where religious freedom revived only during the 1990s, most Catholic priests are still foreigners and feeling the strain resulting from many responsibilities.

"In Cambodia right now, we only have five local priests. So missioners like me must work in the parishes too," said Father Paul Roeung Chatchai of the Thai Missionary Society. There are a total of 62 priests in the country.

He admitted it is a challenge to juggle his many responsibilities. The Thai priest is pastor of three parishes. "Every Sunday I have to go around Phnom Penh to celebrate Mass and meet Catholics," he said.

Apart from his parish work, he is also the deputy director of the Phnom Penh vicariate's catechetical committee and a member of its health committee. Moreover, he is also working to produce a liturgy book in the Khmer language. Only a few months ago, he was made a coordinator of the Church's mass media office and the Cambodia Catholic Cultural Center.

One layperson who appreciates the work of priests is Hom Toeur, a member of the youth committee of Phnom Penh apostolic vicariate.

"They help the poor and sick, support poor children with their education, and conduct many activities. I know a priest who has responsibilities in three or four parishes. We are really in need of more local priests," the 28-year-old told UCA News.

The shortage of priests, especially local ones, has prompted at least one person, Moung Ros to enter the major seminary. "Although we have many missioners, we need more local priests to serve the Church. We must make the Cambodian Church our own," he told UCA News.

To help seminarians appreciate the mission of the priesthood more, Father Bruno Cosme, rector of St. John Mary Vianney Major Seminary, said he is planning monthly sharing sessions on the lives of priests at the seminary starting from September. He is also planning to promote vocations to the priesthood in parishes.

Father Cosme said the Year for Priests is an occasion for all priests to reflect deeply on their mission and responsibilities. "There are many things we have to learn such as loyalty, faithfulness, love, living a simple life, and serving the poor."

Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed a special Year for Priests starting on June 19, the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the death of Saint John Mary Vianney, patron of parish priests.

Sister Gertrude Ditching, in charge of the Don Bosco Vocational Training Center for girls, said the special year is a call for the renewal of all priests, "who are very important for the Church." The nun also sees the Year for Priests as an occasion for promoting local vocations.

The local Church celebrated the Year for Priests at St. John Mary Vianney Major Seminary on June 19.

Bishop Emile Destombes, apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh, celebrated Mass with eight other priests. He said that "Jesus Christ is a great priest" and the "Church today needs truly loyal priests to continue the mission of Christ."