Church of San Miguel de Sihanoukville
On a hill that dominates Sihanoukville Bay the church of San Miguel, the only Catholic church in the Cambodian port city, rises. Finished in 1965 on a land donated by King Sihanouk, it is one of the very few churches in Cambodia that survived the systematic destruction of the Khmer Rojos.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- In 1957 Bishop Gustave Raballand sent Father Yves Ramousse to celebrate the Easter Mass with the small group of French and Vietnamese Christians of the new port; in 1961 King Sihanouk officially gave a land to the Catholic Church, and the temple, designed by Bishop Ramousse with the Basque priest Ahadoberry and the council of the famous Cambodian architect Vann Moyvann, was completed in 1965.
- Under the regime of the Khmer Rojos (1975- 1979) more than fifty Catholic churches and dozens of Buddhist monasteries were destroyed; the one of Sihanoukville stood, though stripped of all its interior and used for years as a stable and warehouse.
- In 1991 the building served as a barracks for UNTAC soldiers; some of them, Catholics, asked for a priest and Bishop Yves Ramousse held the first Mass there after the civil war. Those soldiers painted before the church an icon of St. Michael Archangel, his protector, and since then the temple has been sponsored.
- On December 14, 1993, the church was returned to veneration after a long negotiation; Father Robert Venet attended it until 2001, serving the Catholic communities up to Koh Kong and Srae Ambel, and in 2012 Father Sun became the first Cambodian priest to be appointed parish priest of San Miguel.
San Miguel Archangel
The church of San Miguel de Sihanoukville, a unique work of the New Jemer Architecture raised over the bay, went through the persecution of the Jemeres Rojos and was reborn in 1993. His story, from the gift of a king to the faith of some soldiers, is a silent testimony of God's victory over desolation.
The Church of Cambodia is protected by the Church of Cambodia.
Is the advocation of the Virgin Mary of your people missing?
Si no encuentras la advocación mariana de tu ciudad o pueblo, cuéntanosla: la investigaremos para ubicarla y darla a conocer en este mapa del amor de la Madre por el mundo.
Propose an apvocation →