austraLasia #3236
Congratulations - Cambodia
Delegation
SIHANOUKVILLE:
19 June 2013 -- Just a week ago now, the Rector
Major and his
Council approved the newest circumscription in the Salesian
Congregation - the Delegation of Cambodia, juridically
dependent on St
Paul's Province Thauiland. The Rector Major and his Council
also
approved the Statututes of the new circumscription. Work will
begin
immediately on consultation for a superior of the Delegation,
or
'Delegate', as he is obviously called.
Preparation for this event, both in Cambodia and in Thailand,
the
mother province, began quite some time ago, so the news itself
is not
so surprising. Cambodia is in a particular situation of rapid
development, including rapid Salesian development marked in a
very
positive way by the first profession of the first Khmer
Salesians
recently (May this year), and it has not been easy for
Thailand to
oversee this development. Delegations are not created for
merely
administrative purposes, but to ensure a more effective
animation of
the charism and mission of Don Bosco on behalf of the young.
With the
beginnings now of local vocations, and a sizeable Salesian
(SDB and
FMA) presence in the nation, the time has finally come for
this step to
be taken.
Even just using the 50 or so austraLasia's that have made
reference to
Saelsian Cambodia over the past 15 years, we can draw up a
potted
history of this extraordinary development.
Perhaps one needs to go back to December 15 1960, however,
when the
then Regional for the English speaking Salesian world, Fr
Bernard
Tohill, stopped overnight in Pnom Penh and stayed with the
Vicar
Apostolic resident in the city, Bishop Raballand MEP. it was
then that
the first oral invitation to send Salesians to Cambodia was
issued.
However, Christianity and Catholicism in particular had fallen
on very
difficult times since the faith first came to Cambodia in
1550. The
terrible scourge of the Khmer Rouge had meant almost the
complete
disappearance of the Church, and the certain death of Khmer
priests.
And this is where the Salesian connection begins to kick in to
the
story: Bro Robert Panetto, a Salesian from Piedmont (Turin)
and
missionary in Thailand began working in the Refugee camps on
the
Thai-Cambodian border. With the help of many lay missionaries,
past
pupils mostly from our Thai schools, he began setting up
technical
training centres in the camps. - a work that then extended to
Pnom Penh
by Royal invitation in 1991 when on 24 May the first formal
Salesian
presence in Cambodia took shape, and is now found in Poipet
and Pnom
Penh, in Sihanoukville, Battambang, Kep, Kompung Cham.... Some
of these
smaller centres (like Battambang and Kompung Cham) are
Salesian
outliers: literacy centres and the like.
Bro Robert has the distinction of being the first Salesian
citizen of
Cambodia. The King has recognised his outstanding service on
behalf of
the nation. He now runs the Don Bosco Hotel School at
Sihanoukville.
Two foundations have been set up in Cambodia bearing Don
Bosco's name:
the Don Bosco
Foundation,
Cambodia (DBFC) and the Don
Bosco
Children Fund (DBCF). The former is the 'parent' of the
latter, so to speak, perhaps explaining the similarity of
acronyms! But
for Cambodians at every level, from Monarch to Government to
the
humblest citizen, it is just 'DB', Don Bosco, that means so
much. When Don Bosco
Poipet officially
opened in 2004, the then Deputy Prime Minister had this to
say: "Don
Bosco has an enormous task in Cambodia! Don Bosco knows how to
interest
the youth in Cambodia! Don Bosco provides the youth with
education and
jobs in Cambodia! Don Bosco's feeding programs and educational
funds
are unique in Cambodia! And certainly, Don Bosco is a great
help for
the government of Cambodia!"
Development has gone on apace, and Cambodia has also been an
attractive
centre for Salesian activity from the Region. The Salesian
Brothers
Seminar for EAO was held there in 2006; students of theology
from
Vietnam took their holidays at Sihanoukville in 2011.
Salesians have
offered facilities for a number of international conferences.
The range
of activities and expressions of the charism in Cambodia is
extensive -
much already hinted at above. We would also need to mention
the work
done in the communications field, now resulting in a very
strong an
important influence in the nation as young Cambodians trained
at 'Don
Bosco' in any number of centres, seek and find employment in
the field
as journalists and technical operators.
Congratulations, Cambodia, and your mother Province, Thailand,
for this
significant step.
