Foreign missioners offered insight into local culture

A seminar on the need to better understand Khmer culture was held for foreign missioners here.

During the May 5-7 gathering, Father Bruno Cosme, rector of the major seminary in Phnom Penh, told the 40 participants — three quarters of whom were foreign missioners — that it was vitally important for them to understand the language and culture of the people they wish to evangelize.

Guest speaker, Salesian Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati, India, echoed this message. “Jesus brought the words of God to all people. He welcomed people who were not from his society. From the beginning, his disciples also brought the good news to all people, far and wide. Jesus brought the love of God and the love of God belongs to all people,” he said.

Archbishop Menamparampil is the chairman of the office of Evangelization of the Federation of Asian Bishops´ Conferences (FABC)and was asked by Father Bruno Cosme to speak at the seminar because of his experience in culture and evangelization.

During the seminar participants broke off into groups to share their own ideas as to how to evangelize Cambodian people and avoid the mistakes made by missioners in the past. The biggest mistake they learned was that earlier missioners failed to take local culture into account. During the celebration of Mass, for example, they put too much emphasis on their own European culture, which local people found difficult to identify with. By adopting a more Cambodian approach to Catholicism missioners may find it easier to attract people.

Participant Father Un Son, 48, said, as both a Christian and Cambodian, that he wanted to learn how to strengthen the link between Catholic doctrine and Cambodian culture in order evangelize people.

“As we know, most of the Cambodian people have a Buddhist background, so if we want to tell them about Jesus we have to establish a bridge between Christ and Cambodian culture in order for people to cross. If we don´t then people will reject the Church,” he said.

In Cambodia 95 percent of the population are Buddhist; about 3 percent are Muslim and only 2 percent are Catholic or from other Christian denominations.

Yim Mary, 22, a university student participant, said her Buddhist friends keep asking her why she practices a “foreign faith.” She said that she tells them it is not foreign and that Jesus is “open to all people.”

She said she´s been inviting friends to events at Beong Tompon church in Phnom Penh since she was a little girl.

“When there is a special event on such as a dance at Christmas, I invite some of my friends to see me dancing. I dress in traditional Khmer clothes namely a noy [Khmer blouse] and sampot chang kben [skirt]. When they see me dress like this they realize that being Catholic doesn´t mean being foreign,” she said.

This was a topic which speakers at the seminar attached great importance to.

Archbishop Menamparampil said when a “Khmer person become a Christian, he welcomes Jesus and his message into his life. He should not be told to change his dress, food or social relationships. This would not be good for him, and was not the way Jesus had thought.

“He has to be proud of himself as a Khmer person. The culture and history of this country [Cambodia] is for Khmer People,” he added.

Salesian Sister Dory Helena Ramaray, a Colombian missioner, said the seminar was very useful. “What we´ve learned is to be able to communicate better, to speak the language and not be daunted by Buddhism. We have to be able to show how much Christianity has to offer but also not infringe on their culture.”

The nun said the seminar was very useful and meaningful for her. She said she wants to do whatever she can to give herself to missionary work in Cambodia.

The local Church organizes seminars for mainly foreign missioners every year. Last year´s seminar focused on the word of God. Of the 50 priests in Cambodia, only five are local Khmer.