On the 2nd of July 2000, I was installed as Apostolic Prefect of Battambang. My predecessor, Mgr. Paul Tep Im Sotha, was killed in May 1975 at the beginning of the Khmer Rouge regime. In 1990, the Catholic communities were given permission to worship freely again in Cambodia. However, in the territory of Battambang diocese, Cambodia’s northwest, peace did not fully come until the last of the Khmer Rouge factions laid down their weapons in December 1998. At that time Bishop Ives Ramousse, Bishop Emile Detombes and Fr. Bernard Dupraz did a marvellous work encouraging the communities in this war zone.

With peace comes the new challenges of development. Battambang diocese is strategically located for Cambodia’s development. It lies across the main route to Thailand and encircles the resource-rich Tonle Sap Lake. Within it lies Cambodia’s precious cultural heritage of Angkor Wat and Preah Vihear, and its fertile agricultural fields, hitherto inaccessible because of conflict and land mines, which are now increasingly available for exploitation.

Confident that peace will stay, my first concern during these past five years has been to encourage and strengthen the Catholic communities. I have watched them grow in grace and knowledge, becoming more hospitable and mutually supportive, open to the poor and the vulnerable and more able to contribute to Cambodian society. After five years, thanks to the generous support of many friends, the basic organizations of the diocese are in place.

Our hope is that the new generation of Cambodians gains the values and the skills which were lost during the years of war, so that they themselves rebuild their country. We try to support these efforts through our communities and our emphasis on education.

This report records and gives thanks for what has been done, outlines some of our plans for the coming years, and introduces Battambang diocese to new friends who may wish to join us in serving the Cambodian people and in enabling the Catholic Church to make its proper contribution in its own society.

Mgr. Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzález Apostolic

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Last modified: 07/20/09