In 1610 a group of Christian refugees from Japan arrived just outside the ancient capital of Cambodia near modern-day Phnom Penh. They were fleeing the terrible persecutions of Nagasaki in which the martyrs were given the honour of dying like Christ – crucified. They found sanctuary and space to build. Within a short time they had established a community that would last for over three hundred years. Isolated for most of its life without access to sacerdotal leadership and the sacraments, this faithful band simply prayed and waited until they were ‘found’ by the group of French missionaries who arrived in the latter part of the 19th Century. They naturally inter-married with the local Khmer population but they never lost their identity; they never forgot their Christian roots – and, remember, they had only recently been converted themselves; spiritual children of St Francis Xavier and his companions.
It would be tempting to think that this little group became the seedbed for a major expansion of the Church but in fact they never really grew beyond the confines of their village opposite the old royal palace. The community remained small and survived until the ravages of the genocidal Pol Pot regime in 1975.
At this time the village, like many thousands of others, was destroyed and its inhabitants, many of whom would never return, were dispersed throughout the countryside in a maniacal attempt to ‘level’ society so that there would be no elite, no ‘special’ group. Missionary priests and sisters were expelled. Indigenous priests were either killed or lost their lives in the harsh conditions of forced labour – none survived. All that survives of the parish are the foundations of the old chapel and the graves of some of the missionaries who were active there during the 1950s and ‘60s. It is a sorry sight for sure: a symbol of so much suffering and desolation.There are thoughts – but no plans – that it might eventually become a place of pilgrimage for the still-small Catholic community in Cambodia.
This extreme example is simply one among many in the history of the Church in South East Asia, and reflects how the Church has often been the focus for political and religious violence. The martyrs St Paul Miki, St Andrew Dung-Lac and their many companions, and missionaries from Europe, bear testimony to the courage of many thousands of other Christians over hundreds of years.
Nor does it end. Churches and parishes in some parts of India and Pakistan have often been attacked in recent years. Missionaries to those countries have enormous problems trying to get visas despite having helped to provide an outstanding education service from which many current leaders benefited.
Even the Philippines, where the population is 80% Catholic, has witnessed anti-Christian violence and kidnapping.
However, there is much to take to heart. Missionaries from those countries are now part of the global mission outreach of the Church. Korean priests and sisters are providing much-needed support and personnel in Cambodia. Similarly, those from India and the Philippines are helping to build the Church anew throughout Europe.
More significantly, we learn that ‘numbers’ have never been as important as we might imagine. The witness of Japan, Korea and Indo-China shows that as well as being a Church of suffering, death and martyrdom we are always a Church of resurrection, of new life. The martyrs are important signposts for us – their blood is the seed of the Church – but they always point away from themselves to the glory of the one whom they loved. He is the One we love.
Happy Easter!
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