Catholic Church in Cambodia
The Catholic Church in Cambodia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Throughout the Church's history in Cambodia, Catholics made up a small percentage of the country's population, and a majority of adherents have been ethnically Vietnamese; in 2005, around two-thirds of the total number of Catholics in Cambodia were Vietnamese.[1][2]
The Church in Cambodia was slow to develop during the 20th century, with the first native Cambodian priest being ordained in 1957, and was nearly destroyed by the Khmer Rouge's severe communist rule which banned the practice of religion. Beginning in the 1990s, the institution was gradually rebuilt with the reestablishment of a major seminary and the first ordination of a native priest in decades.
Estimates for the actual number of Catholics in Cambodia has varied over the years. In 1994, UCA News stated that the population was thought to be around 25,000. Later in 2005, parish priest Bob Piche mentioned that the number was 25,000, indicating no change.[20] According to Ramousse in 2015, there are around 20,000 Catholics in Cambodia, or 0.15% of the total population.[7] Peter Ford of The Diplomat, however, wrote that the number has reached 75,000 by 2017.[2]
There are no dioceses, but there are three territorial jurisdictions – one Apostolic Vicariate and two Apostolic Prefectures.