Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio conducting the baptisms

TA OM, Cambodia (UCAN) — A Catholic community established 130 years ago in western Cambodia but destroyed during the civil war and Khmer Rouge rule has been brought back to life.

Twenty-eight villagers were baptized last Easter, marking the re-establishment of a Catholic community in Ta Om village in Banteay Meanchey province.

The Church has for a decade been actively involved in development work in the village, including building a public primary school and embarking on literacy courses and hygiene and sanitation projects.

“Ta Om is a symbol of the Resurrection of God. In the people’s hard and painful experience of war and persecution, God has stood beside them … The God of life blesses those who seek him in this community, reborn from ashes,” said Monsignor Enrique Figaredo, apostolic prefect of Battambang, at the April 4 event.

About 800 people from parishes around the area gathered inside the village’s 130-year-old Neo-Gothic-style church. Although its walls have been repainted, they still bear bullet marks after Khmer Rouge soldiers tried to destroy it in the 1970s.

Twenty adults and eight children were baptized in a Khmer liturgy that included Cambodian classical dances and singing by a youth group. Monsignor Figaredo and Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, the Bangkok-based apostolic nuncio to Cambodia, led the celebration.

“Live your faith by being witnesses of new life and God’s love,” Archbishop Pennacchio told the new Christians.

The Catholic church building in Ta Om Village

According to local Church sources, in 1881 a Catholic community was established in the village of predominantly ethnic Vietnamese fishermen, boat makers and timber merchants.

Later, the Providence Sisters of Portieux opened a primary school and health clinic here.

In the civil war of the 1960s and 1970s, the Vietnamese were driven out of the village.

Former villagers recall the past

Among those at the Easter event were former villagers.

A woman from Battambang said with tears in her eyes, “I am so overjoyed to see the old church still standing. This is where we used to pray. My brother used to be the church bell ringer.”

A young man said, “My father was a catechist here,” while an old man shared: “I was born here. I am eager to go around to see my former friends.”

In a small ceremony that followed the baptisms, local government officials thanked the Catholic Church for its developmental projects in the village.

Archbishop Pennacchio inaugurated a village library, presided at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Pope Benedict XVI Education and Pastoral Center, and blessed one of 15 wells that the Church built.

Church development work here was initiated in 2001, after news reached Monsignor Figaredo that Ta Om villagers were willing to welcome Catholic involvement in development.

The congregation during the Easter celebrations

After several visits to the village and discussions with local leaders, Jesuit Father Heri Bratasudarma, Siem Reap parish priest, started small development projects. These included rebuilding a primary school and starting literacy courses and hygiene and sanitation projects.

Later, the old church building was returned to the Church and some people requested catechism classes.

As Monsignor Figaredo put it: “With the baptism of first Christians after [the community’s] obliteration 40 years ago, Ta Om community comes to life again!”

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