"Listening to the Gospel and the preaching, which I myself often calibrate, addressing non-Christians, many are moved by the feeling of God's call and undertake the journey and time of the catechumenate. God manifests himself in their hearts."
"We celebrate about 100 adult baptisms a year, most of them young people. They say that the Lord's call gives them meaning in life and a sense of belonging to a community. There are baptisms of entire families."
“In my cathedral, when I celebrate Mass, more than half of the assembly is made up of non-baptized people. They are people in search, looking for God, for a meaning to existence,” says the Jesuit Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzález , Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, a missionary for 40 years in Cambodia and current President of the Episcopal Conference of Laos and Cambodia.
“At the moment of distributing the Eucharist we say: on this side, a line to receive Communion; on the other, the line of the unbaptized, to receive the blessing. And this other line is constantly growing ,” notes the Prefect, who reflects on the role of the Church: “It is very beautiful to see the Church as a place of reconciliation of the heart: people bear the weight of their history and find in Christ an oasis that regenerates, that lightens the burdens of existence. Listening to the Gospel and the preaching, which I myself often calibrate, addressing non-Christians, many are moved by the feeling of God’s call and undertake the journey and time of the catechumenate. God manifests himself in their hearts.”
The Prefect explains how Cambodians approach the Catholic Church, in a country with a Buddhist majority where there are only about 30,000 Catholics out of a population of 17 million : “People are interested when they see that we care for the poor, the orphans, the destitute, the disabled. They see compassion. They also appreciate listening and participation: when we welcome someone into the church, we invite them to participate in the mass, the choir and the meetings. This creates an immediate personal involvement.” He also points out that, with Christ, “they find the hope of being saved and freed from the negative spirits that life, past events or cultural beliefs put like a yoke on their hearts.” “The spirit of God liberates. The Gospel of Christ is a liberating message, and on a cultural level, in Cambodia, it has a profoundly transforming impact. We proclaim the power of God that liberates. On the spiritual level, God gives liberation from negative spirits, from adverse destiny. The Lord Jesus gives a full life, he transforms the heart.”
The religious of Spanish origin also mentions the number of baptisms: “We celebrate about 100 baptisms of adults a year, most of them young people. They say that the call of the Lord gives them meaning to life and belonging to a community. There are baptisms of entire families. We also have more than 100 baptisms of children each year in Catholic families.” Another striking aspect, notes Apostolic Prefect Figaredo, is “seeing the church full of young people and children, and with very few elderly people: just the opposite of what happens in the West. Cambodia is a very young country: 50% of the population is under 25 years old, and this is also seen in the churches .”
Regarding the life of the Church in the Apostolic Prefecture, Figaredo highlights that there are 22 priests, of whom three are Cambodian , and the rest are missionaries from various countries, especially from Asia, from Indonesia, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, but also from countries in Africa, Colombia and “We also have 60 nuns of many nationalities and 4 Cambodians. We live the challenge of relationships between people of different cultures and nationalities, in the spirit of being kind and compassionate, of experiencing empathy and synodality. From the Synod, which I attended at the Vatican, I bring back the spirit of strengthening listening and spiritual conversion.”
Looking back on the 40 years of his mission in Cambodia, Father Figaredo says: “The Catholic community has grown in number, but spiritual accompaniment is needed, being responsible for the community. For this, the catechists of the prefecture are a precious help: about 90, almost all young. And among the older ones, some were catechists in the pre-war period, before the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot era. During the Pol Pot era, they went into hiding, because priests, bishops and catechists were killed. The young Catholics were hiding, but they carried the faith in their hearts and kept it secret during the suffering of the war. And now they are there again proclaiming the faith to the little ones.”
As a Spanish priest and missionary, who has lived in Cambodia for 40 years, the Jesuit concludes: “I have been blessed. I am the happiest priest in the world. I live the joy of being a witness to so many works of God. I think of the disabled who had no opportunities and are now married, working, serving the community. The first young people I followed, on a spiritual and pastoral level, are now parents, now that I have white hair, I also have spiritual 'grandchildren'. I feel so grateful for having seen so much beautiful life. Now I can sing my Magnificat.”