The Holy See has announced the appointment of Msgr. Pierre Hangly Suon, aged 53, as the Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Phnom Penh. This appointment by Pope Leo XIV was made public through a communiqué from the Apostolic Nunciature in Thailand on 28th June 2025. The Episcopal Ordination presided over by Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler with Archbishop Peter Bryan Wells, Apostolic Nuncio to Cambodia and Thailand, and Bishop Jean-Marie Prida Inthirath serving as co-consecrators, took place on Saturday, 6th September 2025, at the Phnom Penh Vicariate Centre in Cambodia.
His Eminence Cardinal Sebastian Francis, Bishop of Penang, attended this historic moment for the Church in Cambodia. Cardinal Sebastian in an official communique said that his presence is to represent Malaysia and all the faithful. He exhorted, “Let us unite in prayer, giving praise and thanks to God for this blessing, for the people of Cambodia, and for their new Bishop. May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen the Church in Cambodia”.
Also in attendance was Most Rev. Joseph Vú Van Thién, Archbishop of Hanoi, and Bishops from Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, around 100 priests, religious missionaries and 3,500 People of God. The presence of foreign church leaders underscored regional solidarity with Cambodia’s Catholic community.
The Catholic Church has been present in Cambodia since the 16th century. The Cambodian Church suffered during the persecution by the Khmer Rouge which marked 1975, the so-called “Year Zero.” Every structure of the Church was destroyed, and many of the Khmer bishop, priests, religious, and faithful were killed.
After the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge on 17th April 1975, Bishop Joseph Salas, Fr. Marcel Truong, priests, religious and Catholics were deported to Taing Kok to do hard labour. There, the catholic community celebrated mass in secret. Bishop Joseph Salas died of exhaustion in 1977. In 1978, Fr. Marcel Truong, Fr. Joseph Salem, Benedictine monks Br. Dany Nimith, Br. Andre Runchuor and Br. Damian, Msgr. Tep Sotha, Fr. Jean Badré, Sr. Lydie, and many lay Catholics were executed. Taing Kok is now a pilgrimage centre where they thank the Lord for the martyrs who witnessed the love of Christ in this dark period of Cambodian history.
Bishop Joseph Chhmar Salas, former Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh and Msgr. Paul Tep Im Sotha, former Apostolic Prefect of Battambang and many others were martyred during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979) and buried in the ‘killing fields’ sites where around 1.3 million people were killed in the Cambodian genocide. Their beatification process began in 2015, recognizing them as martyrs of the Church in Cambodia.
As we celebrate the College General 360th Anniversary, we also remember College General alumni Rev, Fr. Marcel Truong Sang SamRonh who studied Theology at College General and is in the list of martyrs. The first Khmer Bishop, Right Rev. Joseph Chhmar Salas is up for canonisation as a martyr.
In his homily, Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler said 50 years ago Cambodia’s first native-born bishop concluded his life journey with a testament to sacrificial love amid a suffering and wounded people. Then came revival and now renewal. Today we behold at the episcopal ordination of Bishop Pierre Suon Hangly a true son of Cambodia, heir to a people whose story spans millennia. Gone are the grand cathedrals and stately bishoprics, yet in their place we have a living church, people aglow with faith, zealous priests, devoted religious men and women offering their lives, services and nurturing the faith from Catholic education to healthcare, youth ministry, catechesis, social enterprises to sustainable tourism. Bishop Olivier concluded his homily with this exhortation, “Dear Bishop Hangly, rejoice and be at peace! The Lord walks with you, His love eternal and unending”.
Bishop Suon Hangly was born on April 14, 1972, three years before the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia. He was ordained a priest in 2001. Bishop Hangly becomes the second native-born Cambodian bishop. His motto is “The Lord is my Shepherd”. In his address, the new bishop expressed deep gratitude to God, the Pope, his fellow clergy, and the Catholic faithful. Bishop Hangly said, “I pledge to carry out this mission with obedience, unity, and a spirit of generosity. Together, we will walk in the light of the Gospel, sharing Christ’s mission with joy, faith, and unity.”
The local Church has emerged from the ashes after the Khmer Rouge persecution, thanks to the unwavering efforts of foreign missionaries, particularly MEP. Today the Catholic Church in Cambodia is a testament of resilience and faith with 15 local priests, one Bishop, and nearly 20 religious sisters, serving alongside foreign missionaries ministering to a community of around 20,000 of the faithful.
By Christopher Kushi
