The Kingdom of God is among you

The Church of Battambang which we ride to every day. The Catholic cathedral in Battambang City was built in 1881. When the Kingdom of Cambodia was all destroyed by war with the Thai, the Catholic communities almost disappeared. In 1850 the Holy See established the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh and Battambang. In 1975 the church was once again under Pol Pot Khmer Rouge regime, completely destroyed everything and killed the Cambodian priests and all religious, except the handful of sisters who happened to be outside of the country. A great number of Cambodian Catholics lost their lives during the years of the genocide. All but three churches were completely destroyed. In 1990 the Catholic communities were given permission to worship freely in Cambodia. Battambang in 2000 began a new church. Concerted efforts of all the faithful contributed to building the church for the faithful including the disabled, the poor, women and the sick.

This is a very strong sign of building the kingdom of God.

The new church is not along the main road nor is it your typical church building.  

 It was built in an area where there are a lot of trees.

Before the Sunday Mass there are several bible study groups that meet.

The custom here is to take off your slippers or shoes before going into the church.   

Sometimes there are so many slippers and shoes that we cannot find our pairs.

 

During the Sunday mass there are about 300 participants and about two thirds are youths.

The readers will go up to the priest for the blessing before reading.

The Offertory

Sometimes they have a traditional dance during the consecration of the mass. 

When they have this dance there is a very special position of kneeling during the consecration.