Cambodian Church cheers first deacon from ethnic Bunong community

Dec 11, 2021

KDOL LEU, Cambodia: The tiny Catholic community in Buddhist-majority Cambodia has welcomed with delight and enthusiasm the firstever deacon from the ethnic minority Bunong people.

John Baptist Prak Hong was ordained a deacon at the Church of St Joseph in Kdol Leu, a territory covered by the Apostolic Prefecture of Kampong Cham, on November 30.

French Bishop Olivier Marie Schmitthaeusler said the ordination was a matter of "great joy and a great gift for the whole Cambodian Church.”

The Bunong community marked the occasion with a passionate and colourful procession, wearing traditional dress accompanied by traditional music and the beating of drums.

Bishop Schmitthaeusler said that Hong’s religious vocation, despite numerous challenges, is a reason to express gratitude to God.

“Today we are filled with joy and gratitude to God for Hong’s ordination. If we look at Brother Hong’s path, we see how God loves humanity. God chose Hong from a small village in Busra to come to announce the Good News to the Kampong Cham and Catholic community of Cambodia,” said the prelate, a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP).

“It is not easy to travel from Busra to Phnom Penh. Hong travelled to attend the theological seminary. We thank God who called him, as he did with St Andrew, the first missionary called by Jesus.”

The bishop also paid tribute to his predecessor, MEP missionary André Lesouëf, who was the first bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Kampong Cham when it was founded in 1968. -- ucanews.com