St. Michael's Church, Sihanoukville
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Saint Michael's Church (
History
A new church for a new city from 1957 to 1970
Before 1956 the Catholic Church in
Father Ahabdoberry continued his apostolic work there until 1967, then he went back to France.
Flourishing during the time of Lon Nol in 1970-1975
In 1970 -1975 during the civil war under the rule of Lon Nol. the number of residents in Sihanoukville increased, as did the number of Christians which increased to 20 families. Among them was a religious nun from Vietnam who settled near the market together with about 10 orphans whom she gathered around the market.
Surviving communism and transformation between 1975 and 1991
From the terror and crimes of the
A church born again from 1991 to the present day under the patronage of Saint Michael
In 1991, the Church became the headquarters of the
In 2012, Father Sun was the first Cambodian priest named as parish priest of Saint Michael's in Sihanoukville.[2] The Christian community has grown steadily to include a number of Chinese faithful, following the evolving demographics of the portuary city.
Architecture
The church is situated on top of the hill with a view on the bay of Sihanoukville close to the Upper Pagoda. The church of Saint Michael was built in the New Khmer Architecture style (Khmer: ស្ថាបត្យកម្មបែបថ្មី) by French missionary Ahadoberry with advice from Khmer architect Vann Molyvann. Vann Molyvann was directing two other construction sites in Sihanoukville both completed in 1968: the SKD Brewery and staff housing and the National Bank of Cambodia and staff housing. The church, considered "very original" by others missionaries at the time,[3] makes an innovative use of reinforced concrete typical of the New Khmer architecture.
Since the late 1950, Vann Molyvann had been using
Various other Christian religious buildings have adopted a similar architecture in South East Asia. Luce Memorial Chapel in Taiwan in 1963, Xavier Hall Catholic Church in Bangkok in 1972, or the Church of the Pastoral Center in Da Lat in 2010 are some examples of a similar architectural style. A-frame building which had been made popular since 1955 by Andrew Geller were built for churches across the world from the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel inaugurated in 1962 to Henry's Ecumenical Art Chapel in Finland in 2005.[5]
See also
- Cathedral of Phnom Penh
- St Joseph's Church, Phnom Penh
References
- ^ Gros, Agnès (2016). Une vie donnée pour le Cambodge: Père Robert Vennet (1917-2013) (in French). Montrouge: Editions du Jubilé. p. 208.
- ^ "Cambodge - Les élèves prient pour les victimes de la tragédie du 'Don Bosco' de Sihanoukville". www.infoans.org (in Italian). Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ "Notice nécrologique du Père Jean Ahadoberry". Archives des Missions étrangères de Paris. 1996. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ISBN 978-3-319-13638-7.
- ^ "St Henry's Ecumenical Art Chapel by Sanaksenaho Architcets". Architizer. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2022.