austraLasia #1775

Church says 'thank you' at Thang Koo, after 450 years

SIHANOUKVILLE: 6th December 2006 -- Fr Albeiro Rodas drove the 300 or so kilometres from Sihanoukville to Thang Koo, in the north of Cambodia, last Sunday with 10 'young apostles' and a teacher, to take part in Catholic community's celebrations for 450 years of presence of the Catholic Church amongst the Khmer people.  Albeiro was not alone.  He was joined by other Salesians from Don Bosco Phom Penh.  Of the ten young people with the Sihanoukville delegation, only one was baptised as a baby.  The rest have come to faith in more recent times, as a result of the witness they have received, including from amongst the Salesians they have met.
    The Thang Koo celebrations were presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio from Thailand and Cambodia, Archbishop Salvatore Pennacio, along with the apostolic vicariates and prefects which make up Cambodia's Catholic groups.  Priests, religious and more than two thousand Catholics gathered for the event.
    Fr Albeiro has founded a rather special youth group with young men and women, which he calls (as rendered in English) the Brother Sun Youth Group.  In many ways it is a fledgling vocational group which, with the Lord's grace, may well give rise to the first Salesian religious vocations in Cambodia.  They do not just meet - they work side by side, helping out at the youth centre in Sihanoukville.
    The 450 year celebration was a high point in faith experience for those who attended, according to Fr Albeiro, and especially for his group.  The journey was a long one for Cambodia - they stayed with the Salesian Sisters overnight en route, and the journey was not entirely without incident, but all returned safely and happily to Sihanoukville.  The Salesians only arrived in Cambodia in 1991, so their 'history' is indeed short compared to 450 years.  But, according to Fr Albeiro, a Colombian Salesian missionary, this celebration became an appropriate moment "to ask St John Bosco, St Mary Mazzarello and all the Saints of the Salesian Family to intercede for the Cambodian Catholic Church, its pastors, its priests and religious, and especially for Cambodian youth, hope of their country, hope of their Church.
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