‘Bishop of the Wheelchairs’ Marks Silver Jubilee as Apostolic Prefect of Battambang in Cambodia

Jesuit Msgr. Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzález, widely known as the "Bishop of the Wheelchairs" for his work with the maimed and disabled, celebrated the 25th anniversary of his installation as Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, Cambodia, on July 3, 2025.

The silver jubilee celebration was attended by several Church leaders, government officials, Buddhist monks, priests, nuns, and people from all walks of life in Battambang, the capital of Battambang province and the third-largest city in northwestern Cambodia.

Alvargonzález, the seventh of eight children, was born into an industrialist family in Gijón, in northern Spain, on September 21, 1959. He completed his studies at Colegio de la Inmaculada, a Jesuit school in Gijón, in 1976 and entered the Jesuit Novitiate on October 15, 1979. He holds degrees in philosophy, theology, and economics.

While in college, he volunteered for the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in 1985 and was assigned to a camp for Cambodian refugees in Thailand. In 1992, he returned to Spain to complete his studies and was ordained a priest on July 4, 1992. He then returned to Cambodia as a missionary.

On April 1, 2000, he was appointed Apostolic Prefect of Battambang and was installed on July 2 of that year.

Msgr. Alvargonzález is also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Laos and Cambodia and chairman of Caritas Cambodia, the Church’s social development arm in the country.

He is well known for promoting interreligious dialogue and for his longstanding commitment to caring for people with disabilities in this Buddhist-majority nation.

His ministry with the physically challenged began during his time in Thailand and continued in Cambodia, especially with those maimed by landmines. Leveraging this experience, he collaborated with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, launching many programs to support victims and raise funds for their welfare.

In 1991, in Phnom Penh, he founded Banteay Prieb ("The Dove House"), a center where children injured by landmines receive education and people with disabilities manufacture wheelchairs based on the Mekong model—a wooden three-wheeled wheelchair.

During the Synodal Consultation in Rome last year, he donated a Cambodia-made wheelchair to the late Pope Francis.

In Battambang, he established the Arrupe Center and spearheaded various development initiatives across the diocese, including projects in education, vocational training for adults, infrastructure, and relief aid.

He actively collaborates with NGOs, government agencies, and Buddhist leaders—as well as the Catholic community—to promote Cambodia’s development. Deeply fascinated by Cambodian culture, he has organized dance tours in Spain (2000, 2005, and 2008) to showcase the country’s unique heritage and raise awareness of its reality.

Msgr. Alvargonzález’s humanitarian efforts in Cambodia have earned him several accolades, including the Golden Amuravela awarded by the Friends of Cudillero Association and the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Social Solidarity from the Spanish government.

In Cambodia, about 80% of the 18 million population are Buddhists, while only 1% are Christians. The remaining population includes atheists, Muslims, and animists.

The Catholic community in Cambodia numbers approximately 36,000. Of these, about 30% are native Cambodians and the remaining 70% are of Vietnamese descent. Catholics are spread across three ecclesiastical jurisdictions: the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh, covering southern Cambodia; the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang; and the Apostolic Prefecture of Kompong-Cham.