PHNOM-PENH, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - It comprises the entire kingdom of Cambodia and some provinces of Cochinchina. On July 19, 1649, this territory was included in the apostolic vicariate of Tonkin; in 1650 it passed to that of Cochinchina.
The latter, on March 3, 1844, was divided into two: Eastern Cochinchina (today Quinhon) and Western Cochinchina (today Saigon). To the latter was annexed Cambodia, which was then detached from it on Aug. 30, 1850, in order to constitute, together with the contiguous part of Laos, the autonomous vicariate of Cambodia. On July 22, 1870, the two provinces of Chau-doc and Hatien, dismembered from the vicariate of Western Cochinchina, were incorporated into it, along with five other Cambodian provinces, until then forming part of Siam. Its present name dates from Dec. 3, 1924.
The Cambodian race is not at all inclined to the Catholic religion. Buddhism, as the national religion, pervades all official ceremonies and the acts of the Cambodian government. But the Annamites are numerous, and easily converted to Christianity. In the great virgin forests are found traces of indigenous tribes: Pears, Kouys, Kas, Phnom, Stiegs. They have in common only fetishism as a religion and a nomadic life. The Jesuit Ferdinande Mendez Pinto, in 1554, and the Dominican Gaspare della Croce, in 1555, visited Cambodia. But the organization of the stations began toward the end of the 16th century, through the work of Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits. After 1606 the Fathers of the Paris Foreign Missions arrived in Cambodia, to whom the vicariate is still entrusted. Subsequently, the mission entered a long period of decline because of the continuous wars between Cambodians and Annamites. In 1870, with the annexation of the two Annamite provinces, the vicariate had a new period of prosperity.
Over a territory of 190,000 sq km, the population is about 4,500,000. The number of Catholics amounts to 109,224. There are 106 priests; 39 brothers; 519 sisters; 16 major and 140 minor seminarians; 8 hospitals, 5 orphanages; 6 homes for the aged; 40 elementary schools; 4 secondary schools; 2 normal schools; 2 schools for catechists.
BIBL. Arch. della S. Congr. di Prop. Fide, Relatio quinquennalis, pos. prot. n. 4171/35; ibid., Prospectus Status Missuons, 1950, pos. prot. n. 4174/50; AAS, 17 (1925), pp. 25-26; H. Chappouille, Aux origines d'une Eglise, Rome et les missions de l'Indochine au XVIIe siècle, 2 voll., Parigi 1943-1948, passim; MC, 1950, pp. 270-71.
Edoardo Pecorano