Cambodian church thanks French missionary who returned after genocide

Published: 2004-06-15

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNS) -- Church leaders in Cambodia expressed their gratitude to a late French missionary who helped rebuild the Catholic community after the Khmer Rouge nearly destroyed it. "We request all our brothers and sisters in Christ to join us in our prayers of thanksgiving to Our Lord for the gift of Msgr. Andre Lesouef's life for the church in Cambodia," the heads of the three Cambodian church territories said in a statement. Msgr. Lesouef, who became the first apostolic prefect of Kompong Cham in 1968, died June 6 in Montbeton, France, at age 86, according to the statement. The Cambodian Catholic Church held a memorial service June 14 for Msgr. Lesouef, a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. The statement was signed by Bishop Emile Destombes, apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh; Msgr. Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzales, apostolic prefect of Battambang; and Msgr. Antonysamy Susairaj, apostolic prefect of Kompong Cham.

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