Bishop Emile Destombes Who Helped Rebuild Church in Cambodia Passes Away ‎

CEOCambodiaNews · Post by **CEOCambodiaNews** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:57 pm

From Facebook:

On behalf of Caritas Cambodia, it is with deep regret and sorrow that I have to inform all respective partners that the former bishop of Phnom Penh, the founder, former director and chairman of Caritas Cambodia, Bishop Emile Destombes has passed away on 28th January 2016 at 12.30 pm at his resident in Cambodia, at the age of 81 due to illness.

The funerals will be celebrated on Saturday 30 January 2016 at 9.00am at Saint Joseph parish and followed by inhumation in the CheyDey.

Please pray for the rest in Peace of Our dearest Bishop Emile who serve our church in Cambodia with zeal and much love.

A French missionary bishop who spent decades helping revive a decimated Catholic community in Cambodia after the devastation of the Khmer Rouge, died on Jan. 28. Bishop Emile Destombes died at the age of 80 in his home in Phnom Penh, after receiving Holy Communion from his successor, Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler of Phnom Penh. Born in 1931 in Roncq, France, Emile Destombes was ordained to the priesthood in 1961. He was appointed coadjutor vicar apostolic of Phnom Penh in 1997, succeeded in 2001 and retired in 2010.

A member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, Fr. Destombes was sent to Cambodia in 1964, at the age of 29. As civil war worsened in the 1970s, Father Destombes risked his life smuggling food to thousands of ethnic Vietnamese imprisoned as part of the Lon Nol government’s anti-Vietnamese campaign. With hundreds of thousands of war refugees flooding into Phnom Penh in the first half of the decade, Father Destombes worked to provide them with housing and assistance, allowing them to ultimately become self-sufficient. He also stood with the people of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, welcoming the approach of the Khmer Rouge - whom they believed would bring long-awaited peace. One of the last foreigners to leave the country, Father Destombes stayed in the French embassy for 15 days, before finally being expelled from the country.

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/01 ... 8e/1204948

John Bingham · Post by **John Bingham** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:07 pm

Quite an amazing story. You don't get too many foreigners who have been in Cambodia since 1964 (I know he was kicked out for a few years but I can't blame him for that - a lot of people were kicked out in those days).