Church thanks late French missionary

Posted: 2nd July 2004

Mgr. André Lesouëf

Phnom Penh - Church leaders in Cambodia have expressed gratitude to a late French missioner for dedicating his life to building a Catholic community and then rebuilding after the Khmer Rouge all but destroyed it.

"We request all our brothers and sisters in Christ to join us in our prayers of thanksgiving to our Lord for the gift of Monsignor Andre Lesouef's life for the Church in Cambodia," the heads of the three local Church territories said in a statement.

The Cambodian Catholic Church held a memorial service June 14 for the late member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Monsignor Lesouef, who became the first apostolic prefect of Kompong Cham in 1968, died June 6 in Montbeton, France, at age 86, according to the statement.

Addressed to all God's people in Cambodia, it was signed by Bishop Emile Destombes, apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh; Monsignor Enrique Figaredo, apostolic prefect of Battambang; and Monsignor Antonysamy Susairaj, apostolic prefect of Kompong Cham.

Their statement says that before the future missioner became a priest, he was injured by a grenade while serving in the French army during World War II. Doctors had to amputate his left leg below the knee. He was ordained a priest in 1943 and three years later was sent by his society to Cambodia, then a French protectorate.

According to Monsignor Susairaj, also a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, his predecessor dedicated his life to developing the local Church despite his disability and "difficult circumstances" before and after the 1975-79 rule of the Khmer Rouge. The communist group is blamed for the deaths of up to 2 million Cambodians before Vietnamese troops forced it from power. No local clergy survived.
Monsignor Lesouef was the last missioner to leave his prefecture during the time preceding the Khmer Rouge's rise to power in 1975, when foreigners were expelled from the country, Indian-born Monsignor Susairaj told UCA News.

After Cambodia restored religious freedom in 1991, he said, Church officials began to return to the country and rebuild the Church. Monsignor Lesouef returned in 1993 and went as soon as he could to Kompong Cham town, 75 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh, where he waited around the market to see if any of the Catholics he knew had survived.

At the time, Monsignor Lesouef had already passed the retirement age of 75 to head the prefecture. But the Vatican asked him to continue to serve, as the country had a limited number of priests, Monsignor Susairaj said.

Monsignor Lesouef did not see anyone he knew at the market and returned to Phnom Penh. But a Catholic woman named Bon Nath, who heard of his visit, got word to him asking him to go back to Kompong Cham, which he did. With Bon Nath's help, he bought a small house and started organizing Church activities, Monsignor Susairaj said.

Bon Nath also brought two young women, Bouang Buntharin and Ang Songvat, as helpers. The two eventually became Catholics, and in March this year professed temporary vows as members of the Lovers of the Cross Congregation of Kompong Cham, according to Monsignor Susairaj.

He added that through Bon Naht, many others who are now Catholic leaders in different places came to know his predecessor. Thanks to her witness, nurtured by Monsignor Lesouef, they have revived the Church in Kompong Cham, he said.

Monsignor Lesouef focused his rebuilding effort on Khmer Catholics, encouraging them as Catholics in their predominantly Buddhist country and as members of the local Church, many of whose members traditionally have been ethnic Vietnamese. However, old age and failing health forced Monsignor Lesouef to retire in 1997, Monsignor Susairaj continued. The Indian missioner was appointed head of the prefecture that year.

But his "retired" confrere stayed on to help. "What do you want me to do? I am at your disposal. Either I go back to France or if you have any idea of anything for me to do, just tell me," he quoted Monsignor Lesouef as saying. The octogenarian missioner returned to France in 2000.

Monsignor Susairaj said his predecessor "always" encouraged and thanked Church people, rather than complain about his difficulties. "This is the way I remember him," he added. Despite physical disability, Monsignor Lesouef never showed that he was a "handicapped person," Monsignor Susairaj said.

Today the prefecture has one Khmer and eight other priests, and 10 nuns. According to Monsignor Susairaj, it has 22 communities with about 4,000 Catholics, 800 of them Khmer and the others ethnic Vietnamese. It covers Kompong Cham, Svay Rieng, Prey Veng, Fratie, Stung Treng, Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri provinces.

Khmer are the predominant ethnic group among Cambodia's 12 million people. About 95 percent of the people are Buddhists. Catholics number about 19,000.

Article Source: UCANEWS and C.S.C.