Catholic Cambodia

About Catholic Cambodia

This is a mobile app of the Catholic Church in Cambodia.

The Good news came to Cambodia with the arrival of the first missionaries more than 455 years ago. In 1555, Fr. Gas par Da Cruz, a Portuguese priest arrived and proclaimed good news in Cambodian society, then some Catholic people from Indonesia and Japan took refuge at Phnom Penh and Ponhea Leu.
Cambodia suffered from the Siamese and Aname. Siamese’s invasion deported a large number of Cambodian Catholics to Bangkok. Some Catholics escaped and re-grouped themselves in Battambang in 1790.
In 1866, Preah Bath Norodom, the king of Cambodia asked the church to relocate to Phnom Penh. Furthermore, the Church has developed, and until mid 20th Yen was ordained as the first Cambodian priest.
In 1068 the Holy See divided the Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh into three Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions such as Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh, Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, Apostolic Prefecture of Kompong Cham.