(RVA) The new St. John the Baptist Church was consecrated for the Pounong people of the Busra commune, in the Pichreda district, of Cambodia’s Mondulkiri province, by Father Bruno Cosme the aspostolic administrator of Kampon Chima. He cut the ribbon and handed the keys of the new church to Father Francois Hemelsdael on May 1, Radio Veritas Asia [RVA] reported.
In his homily during the consecration Mass, Father Cosme, of the Paris Foreign Missions, said, “When we are weak, we do our best, but Jesus understands our potential. Today, as we are here, we pray together in this new church. It will help us to understand better our ability to work for God.”
He said, “We are weak, but we pray; we are weak, but we are together; we are weak, but we still bear witness to our faith,” concluding, “May God continue to guide us, strengthen our faith, give each of us physical and mental strength.”
The 75-year-old indigenous man, who started the Mondulkiri with nine other families, said that it used to be small and difficult to worship. The people of the area have been requesting a resident priest since 2000.
“Now that we have the church, we rejoice. It is my dream that came true. My children may continue to grow in faith, that they may worship God, and that they may show to others their faith, solidarity in daily life, and put priorities for each other to move forward,” he said, adding, “I hope the community grows in the future.”
Here in Busra, we have a large church showing the growing faith of the Catholics over the years. In the church, there is the body of Christ, the tabernacle, and the altar, a symbol of the presence of God, who loves all people’
Father Francois Hemelsdael
He recalled that the community began with 15 families who had fled to Vietnam during the Cambodian war and took refuge with Catholics in Vietnam before returning in April 1986.
“At that time, we had nothing to offer in our ceremony and we saw the lives of good Catholics being respected and [this belief] we could follow, so we adopted from them,” he recounted.
The five Catholic families settled in Dak Dam and 10 families in Busra. Every Sunday, they used to gather under a tree to pray. Then they began to build a house for prayer. For nine years the community was without a priest. In 1996 until today, there have been a series of missionaries.
At the present, the community counts more than 200 Catholics from 124 families, said Brob Pjoch, a parish leader.
“For, me and people here, we are happy to have a new church. The existing church earlier was too small. We do not have enough room to accommodate everyone. But, now it is bigger as the number of Catholics has increased. We thank God and supporters for this new church,” Pjoch said.
“I hope this new church helps us to strengthen our faith so that we can proclaim the gospel to others, teach children, and spread the faith to people who wish to know Jesus,” he added.
“For me, when there is such a big and new church, it is a place where we can get together as a community,” he said.
“I used to teach Catholics that the important thing is to build a community. Each person is a rock to build a church, the structural building is secondary,” Father Francois Hemelsdael said.
“Today, the church building is important as it is a sign for other villagers that there are true believers,” he said adding. “Here in Busra, we have a large church showing the growing faith of the Catholics over the years. In the church, there is the body of Christ, the tabernacle, and the altar, a symbol of the presence of God, who loves all people.”
He said that the church is for all the Punong people in Mondulkiri, such as Dak Dam Keo Seima, and the whole Prefecture of Kampong Cham because Kampong Cham does not have many big churches.
“I hope that in the future this church will be able to hold meetings for all the people in the Kampong Cham prefecture and that the church is not just a place of worship or administer sacraments, but a place for meetings to build a family of Christ,” he said.
St. John the Baptist Church [Busra] was built in 2021 with the support of various donors.
The parish has a young woman who is now a nun, a member of Lover of the Cross. Another man will soon be ordained a priest. –With input from Kagnha Keo/RVA Cambodia
