The History of the Church in Cambodia goes back to over 450 years ago and can be traced as follows:

Cathedral of Phnom Penh, pre-1970

XVI Century

In 1555 Fr. Gaspar da Cruz, a Portugese Dominican brought the Good News to Cambodia. He stayed for a while at the Royal Court of Longvek.

In 1574 Fr. Sylvestre D'Azevedo, also a portugese Dominican arrived in the Kingdom of Cambodia. He stayed here for 22 years. He spoke the Khmer language, built a church and wrote a book on the Christian religion in the Khmer language.

XVII Century

At the beginning of the XVII Century a certain number of Japanese catholics emigrated to Cambodia and settled down at Ponhea Lu.

In 1660, the Catholics coming from Indonesia took refuge in Columpe (Phnom Penh) and in Ponhea Lu.

All the invasions from Vietnam and Siam were disastrous for the Cambodian Church.

XVIII Century

There were a certain number of Khmer Catholics in Kompong Thom.

Between 1768 amd 1777, Fr. Levavasseur, a French priest, wrote catechism books, in the Khmer language, built formation houses for seminarians and founded a female religious community. He composed a Cambodian-Latin dictionary.

In 1784, a Vietnamese invasion destroyed the Church and drove the Khmer Christians towards the South of Cambodia. In 1785, a Siamese invasion deported a big number of Khmer Catholics to Bangkok. Some Catholics escaped and regrouped themselves as one community in Battambang on January 5, 1790.

XIX Century

In the middle of the XIX Century, the Kingdom of Cambodia was destroyed by war and the Catholic communities were almost annihilated.

In 1850, the Holy See appointed Mgr. Jean-Claude Miche to be the Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh.

In 1866, King Norodom had the Khmer Catholics leave Ponhea Lu and go to the capital Phnom Penh, where they were given land to build their church, in Prek Luong.

In 1881, the Sisters of Providence of Portieux began their house in Phnom Penh.

During the French protectorate, many Catholics from Vietnam came and settled down in Cambodia.

XX Century

In 1952, a monastery of the Benedictine monks was built in Kep, in the Kampot province.

In 1957 the first Khmer priest was ordained.

On September 26, 1968, the Holy See divided the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh into three Ecclesiastical circumpscriptions; namely Phnom Penh, Battambang and Kompong Cham. Mgr. Paul Tep Im Sotha became the Apostolic Prefect of Battambang.

In 1970, the Catholic Community organised an aid commission to help the victims of the war. This relief commission soon became important and took the name of "Caritas Cambodia".

On April 14, 1975, Mgr. Joseph Chhmar Salas was ordained Bishop Coadjutor of the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh.

Bishop Joseph Chhmar Salas, Mgr. Paul Tep Im Sotha, all Khmer priests, religious brothers and sisters and a great number of Khmer Catholics lost their lives during the years of genocide. Nearly all church buildings were destroyed.

On April 4, 1990, the Catholic Communities were given government permission to workship freely.

A timeline of the History of the Church can be read here.