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Joseph Chhmar Salas (Khmer: យ៉ូសែប ឆ្មារសាឡាស់) 21 October 1937 – September 1977) was a prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh in Cambodia from 1975 to 1977, when he died of exhaustion in a forced work camp of the Khmer Rouge. He was the first Cambodian native bishop.
Joseph Chhmar Salas | |
|---|---|
| Vicar Apostolic of Phnom Penh | |
 The then-Father Salas on 17 November 1968. | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| See | Phnom Penh |
| Appointed | 30 April 1976 |
| Term ended | September 1977 |
| Predecessor | Yves Ramousse |
| Successor | Yves Ramousse |
| Previous post(s) | Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Phnom Penh (1975-76) Titular Bishop of Sigus (1975-76) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 24 June 1964 by Yves-Marie Georges René Ramousse |
| Consecration | 14 April 1975 by Yves-Marie Georges René Ramousse |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 October 1937 |
| Died | September 1977 (aged 39) Taing Kok, Kompong Thom, Democratic Kampuchea |
Life
editSalas was born in Phnom Penh on 21 October 1937.[1] For his formation as a priest, he was sent to Paris and was ordained in 1964. His first assignment was in the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang. He returned to France for more studies.
In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia. They founded a Communist state with the name of Democratic Kampuchea, where any religion was forbidden and destruction of religious sites was frrequent. In May 1975, foreigners were expelled, including Catholic priests and religious, while natives were forced to work in rice fields and many of them were executed.[2]
French Bishop Yves Ramousse was at the head of the Cambodian Church when the Khmer Rouge took power. Anticipating his expulsion from the country for being a foreigner, he called Salas back to Cambodia. On 14 April 1975, the Holy See appointed Salas as Coadjutor Bishop for the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh. On 30 April, Bishop Ramousse was expelled from the country with many other foreign priests and religious. Most Cambodian priests and religious remained in the country, very few would survive.[2]
In 1976, Bishop Ramousse resigned as head of the Cambodian Church. Salas became the head, but he was sent by the Khmer Rouge Regime to a rice field in Kompong Thom. He died of exhaustion in September 1977 in the Traing Kork Pagoda.[2]
On 1 May 2015, the Cambodian Catholic Church officially opened an inquiry into the presumed martyrdom of Joseph Chhmar Salas and another 33 persons who died during the time of the Khmer Rouge regime.[3]
References
edit- ^ "Diocesan Profile Series". UCAN. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- ^ a b c "Fragment of the altar used by Bishop Salas", Basilica di San Bartolomeo all'Isola
- ^ "Diocesan beatification process opened for Cambodian martyrs". La Croix. 17 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.