It was a joyful day for the Society of Jesus, particularly the Jesuit Mission in Cambodia which had just received the First Perpetual Vows of a new member, Sch. Henry Ky Rike, SJ, on March 26, 2022. This event was also historic because it is the first time for a Jesuit’s First Vows Mass to be held in Cambodia.
January 2022 is a month full of new-beginnings. Several members of the mission come and go. At Xavier Jesuit School, a new school year starts and it is back to offline learning. Fr. Manoj was installed as the new parish priest of Divine Mercy Parish (Khnach Romeas).
In August 2014, after I came back from my Tertianship in Australia, Bishop Kike kindly welcomed me back to the Prefecture of Battambang and assigned me to new mission territories in two provinces: Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey.
The Jesuit community in northern Cambodia has been blessed with a new home, Xavier House. Fr Enrique Figaredo SJ, Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, Fr Yong-su Kim SJ, Provincial of the Korean Province, and Fr In-don Francisco Oh SJ, Delegate of the Korean Provincial to the Cambodian Mission, celebrated the house blessing Mass on 15 December 2021.
Fr. Ohchang Simon Kwon SJ pronounced his solemn perpetual Final Vows to the Society of Jesus on 22 October, the memorial of St. John Paul II, at the chapel of Metta Karuna Reflection Center, Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was the last day of the annual retreat. The Mass was presided by Msgr. Enrique Figaredo SJ, Apostolic Prefect of Battambang Prefecture, and the homily was given by Fr. Indon Francisco Oh SJ, Delegate to the Korean Provincial. Despite the difficulty of traveling in this time of the pandemic, the cozy chapel was filled with parish students, collaborators, Jesuits, and other religious
Three of the members of the Jesuit Mission in Cambodia share their memories about Richie. Filipino Jesuit scholastic Richard “Richie” Fernando, SJ was a regent in Banteay Prieb, the Jesuit vocational training center for people with disabilities. In October 1996, he was killed by an explosion of a grenade brought by an emotionally distraught student. His body had shielded the student and the other students from the blast. In the memory of Richie, the newsletter of Jesuit Mission in Cambodia is named after him. Subscribe to Richie’s Letters: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NVmm… Watch “Greater Love”, a documentary on Richie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leieH… Share on facebook
