Survey Promo
RVA App Promo Image

'Joy of God and of the poor is our strength', Cambodian Caritas members told

Bishop Enrique Figaredo delivers speech to the retreatants (Photo by RVA Khmer)

Members of Caritas Cambodia were urged to 'reflect about ministering to others and thank God for the strength they have in serving others beyond the work techniques.'

Bishop Enrique Figaredo, Chairman of the Board of Caritas Cambodia and an Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, was preaching a retreat to the members of Caritas Cambodia.

On the opening day of the retreat, the bishop encouraged the members. that "the joy of God and of the poor is our strength and also the joy that is in Caritas is our strength."

About 200 staff members from all regions of Caritas in Cambodia participated in the three-day annual retreat from February 14-16 in Siem Reap province about 231 Km from the Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia.

This 29th annual retreat has the theme "Caritas at the heart of the Church."

Bishop Enrique urged, “We have great responsibilities in terms of personnel and technical, but we have to improve more beyond those technical.”

He invited them that they had to plead from God the strength of spirit and strength of heart, to be strong together.

After COVID-19, Cambodia opened up the economy and made more progress, but nonetheless, those affected by COVID-19 were more numerous, especially the poor.

The bishop requested the members of Caritas Cambodia to pay more attention to "the poor who have who have no technology, no education or no opportunity and have suffered social injustice during Covid because the larger society did not value them much."

He encouraged them to think about these issues during the retreat, and how they could be of help to them through Caritas Cambodia.

Group Photo of Caritas Cambodia (Photo by RVA Khmer)

The Latin word Caritas means ‘charity’ and Caritas is an International Catholic Charity.

Caritas Cambodia is an institution of the Catholic community in Cambodia that plays a social role in the humanitarian field.

The institution was established in 1970 by Bishop Yves Ramousse, MEP, of Cambodia, then the Committee for the Relief of War Victims, and later renamed Caritas Cambodia and was recognized by Caritas International in 1973.

In 1975-1979, Cambodia was under the Khmer Rouge Regime which destroyed everything, and nearly 2 million Cambodian people were killed.

Caritas and the Cambodian Church suffered during this period.

After the civil war finished, Caritas started its mission again in 1990 and is serving till now.

They are doing missions in 7 provinces in the country such as Livelihood Food Security, Community Health Program, Disaster Management Program, Gender and Anti Trafficking, Center Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Climate Change Adaptation, Friendly Vocational Skills Development, Siem Reap Health Program, Takeo Eye Hospital, Youth Development Program. - By Kagnha Keo

 

Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.”  Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.