The 12 novices and seminarians pose for a photo at a Marian grotto after their gatheringPHNOM PENH (UCAN) -- Young women and men training for Religious life or the priesthood in Cambodia have realized that they share similar challenges.
Four seminarians and eight novices training to be nuns gathered June 18 at the major seminary in Phnom Penh to share their experiences in embracing their vocations.
According to seminary rector Father Bruno Cosme, this was the first such gathering for these young men and women from across Cambodia.
Seminarian Se Sath, 27, told UCA News after the gathering: "I learned a lot from the others. I thought living in the seminary was difficult and strict, but when I heard the girls talking about their lives in the convent, it seems more difficult."
He added that during the gathering, participants motivated one another to press on with their vocations despite obstacles.
Sath, the only Catholic in his Buddhist family, had a difficult time entering the seminary. "My mother said if I became a priest she would disown me. Three of his Buddhists friends also rejected me," he told participants.
Sath is the oldest of six children from a farming family. In Cambodia, as in other parts of Asia, the family members count on the eldest male child to support them.
Sath was baptized in 2005. In 2008, he joined the local Church's Emmanuel program when he felt called to the priesthood. Young men meet several times a year to share their faith, pray together and reflect on their vocation during this program.
"Sometimes I cry when I think about my poor family. I am the oldest child but cannot support them," he shared.
Gnep Sokny, a novice with the Lovers of the Cross congregation, said she found the gathering useful. "It is good to get to know the boys and how they work, because in the future we will work together," she told UCA News after the gathering.
During the meeting, Sokny, who also comes from a poor Buddhist family, shared that she too received no family support when she decided to join the Religious life. Moreover, she comes from a broken family. Her parents divorced shortly after she was born and her father has never called her kun (daughter), she shared. "I never received love from my father," said the 24-year-old.
Sokny was baptized in 1998 and later joined the Samuel program, which is similar to the Emmanuel program, but which is for young women.
Seminarian Phan Borey told UCA News that the gathering made him realize how others have suffered. He was fortunate -- his family supported his vocation.
He too had joined the Emmanuel program that "helped me get to know my own life, what I want to be, and discern God's call." Borey, now 29, is studying philosophy at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
According to Father Cosme, the gathering was significant because the participants will work together to build a future for Cambodia when they are fully professed or ordained. At present, Cambodia has five seminarians and 10 novice nuns.
The Catholic Church in Cambodia has around 50 priests, only five of whom are local Cambodians. Among the 80 nuns or so, only five are locals.
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