Jubilee in Cambodia "to discover the beauty of God's forgiveness"
Phnom Penh (AsiaNews) – Fr Mario Ghezzi, a priest with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) spoke to AsiaNews about the intention with which the Church in Cambodia opened the Holy Door in the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh on 10 December.
He hopes that the Holy Year of Mercy "will raise awareness about the beauty of God's forgiveness. For Cambodians, forgiveness is still something difficult to understand and experience. For those steeped in Buddhist culture, forgiving sins does not exist."
"That day we brought together all the representatives of the Catholic communities in the vicariate; about 800 people in all,” Father Mario said. “We met in front of the church of the pastoral centre.” Bishop Olivier Michel Marie Schmitthaeusler “proclaimed the church as a place for penitence and the Jubilee.”
“He led us in procession through the Holy Door, an arch the bishop had built for the occasion in the garden. A prayer was recited for the door opening, followed by a blessing.”
“The door leads to a stone statue of the Virgin Mary, which stands on a sort of hill. Here, the faithful performed a blessing dance for Our Lady. After that we went into the lobby of the Pastoral Centre (the church is too small) to celebrate the Eucharist."
After the Mass, “We had a convivial lunch, with all the faithful”, the missionary said. “The bishop presented the schedule for the Holy Year, indicating three places for the Jubilee pilgrimage. The latter will begin at the pastoral centre with a prayer before going through the Holy Door. This will be followed by the rosary before the statue of the Virgin, and the confession inside the building.”
“From there we travel by car because it is too far to walk to St Joseph’s Parish Church, north of Phnom Penh. Last Sunday, the bishop blessed the chapel built there to remember Cambodian martyrs.”
After leaving St Joseph’s Parish, “We set off for Arey Ksat, the last leg of the journey,” Fr Ghezzi said. “Fishermen found two statues of Mary in the river near what will become Cambodia’s Marian shrine,” he explained. “Here people will be able to end their pilgrimage with a confession and a Mass.”
In Cambodia, the Jubilee pilgrimage is organised so that "all the faithful are equipped with a kind of passport, which indicates the pilgrimage route, the prayers to perform . . . . At each site, the passport will be stamped to show that the visit had taken place. The pilgrimage can be done individually or in pastoral groups."
The Jubilee of Mercy will help Christians enter into the mystery of God's forgiveness,” Fr Ghezzi explained. "Cambodians, who are steeped in Buddhist culture, find it hard to forgive those who do them wrong, those who offend them. This is something that is beyond their experience.”
“I hope that the Year of Mercy will bring them the experience of God’s forgiveness and allow people to forgive each other.”
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15/12/2015
10/08/2016 11:50
