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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 among the first native Cambodians to become a Catholic priest and the first to become bishop.

Life

Early life and education

Salas was born in Phnom Penh on 21 October 1937 in Moutkrasal village along the Mekong river. He was born into a Traditional Catholic family.[1] Salas was the eldest of his siblings. He had a younger sister, Yu Chhmar Prakod (also spelled You Prakort), and a younger brother, Joseph Chhmar Salem, who was also a Catholic priest. He studied in a minor seminary in Phnom Penh, afterwards he continued his studies to a major seminary named “Issy les Moulineaux” in France in October 1959 For his formation as a priest.

Priesthood

Salas was ordained a deacon at the Saint-Sulpice Chapel in Issy-les-Moulineaux on 2 February 1964. He was ordained a priest on 24 June 1964 by Bishop Yves Ramousse at the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Phnom Penh,[2] becoming one of the first native Cambodians, alongside Simon Chhem Yen and Paul Tep Im Sotha, to become a Catholic priest.[3] Following his ordination, Salas was assigned to the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, where he established a training center for catechists. In 1974, he returned to Paris, France, to pursue advanced theological and biblical studies.

Episcopal ministry and Khmer Rouge era

In March 1975, amid the escalation of the Cambodian Civil War, Bishop Yves Ramousse was at the head of the Cambodian Church when the Khmer Rouge took power. Sensing that he would have to leave his beloved community, he summoned Salas back to Cambodia urgently. Anticipating that all foreign clergy would be expelled if the Khmer Rouge seized power, Ramousse sought to establish native leadership for the local Church.[4]

Salas readily obeyed and hurried back to his country. Salas knew that his return at this time meant accepting all the most difficult consequences that would befall him. Upon his departure from Paris, Salas reportedly expressed to a friend his expectation that he was returning to his country to die.[5]

On 14 April 1975, the Holy See appointed Salas as Coadjutor Bishop for the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh, having already served as a priest for 11 years. He was ordained 3 days before the Khmer rouge seized Phnom Penh.[6]

During this turbulent period, Bishop Ramousse secretly consecrated Salas on April 6, before the official decision of the Holy See, only for him to be expelled on April 30, 1975, along with many other foreign priests and religious.[7]

On April 17, 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 frequent,[8] Catholics and non Catholics were force out of the town and cities.[9]

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.[10]

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.[11]

In 1976, Bishop Ramousse resigned as head of the Cambodian Church. Salas became the head, in Kompong Thom. He died of exhaustion in September 1977 in the Taing Kork Pagoda.[12]

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.[13]

References

  1. ^ “Diocesan Profile Series”. UCAN. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  2. ^ https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bsalas.html
  3. ^ Descallar, Blas; Ange, Mary. “Msgr. Paul Tep Im Sotha” (PDF). Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Parish. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  4. ^ “Đức Cha Joseph Chhmar Salas: Giám Mục Tiên Khởi Người Bản Xứ Campuchia: Chứng Tá Đức Tin Tử Đạo Dưới Thời Diệt Chủng Pôn-Pôt – Giáo Phận Cần Thơ” (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  5. ^ “| Communauté de Sant’Egidio”. archive.santegidio.org. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  6. ^ “Fragment of the altar used by Bishop Salas”. Basilica di San Bartolomeo (in Italian). Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  7. ^ “Đức Cha Joseph Chhmar Salas: Giám Mục Tiên Khởi Người Bản Xứ Campuchia: Chứng Tá Đức Tin Tử Đạo Dưới Thời Diệt Chủng Pôn-Pôt – Giáo Phận Cần Thơ” (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  8. ^ “Fragment of the altar used by Bishop Salas”. Basilica di San Bartolomeo (in Italian). Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  9. ^ “Community history”. ព្រះសហគមន៍កាតូលិកនៅកម្ពុជា. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  10. ^ “Fragment of the altar used by Bishop Salas”. Basilica di San Bartolomeo (in Italian). Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  11. ^ “Fragment of the altar used by Bishop Salas”. Basilica di San Bartolomeo (in Italian). Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  12. ^ “Fragment of the altar used by Bishop Salas”. Basilica di San Bartolomeo (in Italian). Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  13. ^ “Diocesan beatification process opened for Cambodian martyrs”. La Croix. 17 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.