Fr. Pierre Rapin, martyred under the Khmer Rouge, "alive" in Cambodia’s Catholic community
Phnom Penh
(AsiaNews) - "I'll stay as long as
there is only one of you": Fr. Pierre
Rapin, French missionary in Cambodia, so he said to his faithful 40 years ago during
the upheavals brought on by Pol Pot, when the bishop advised him to move to a
safer area. Killed
by the Khmer Rouge, with his testimony, the priest is the reason why the
community today is "alive and full of hope." On the occasion of
Christmas and New Year, Fr. Luca
Bolelli, 38, a missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions
(PIME) in Cambodia for six years, spoke to AsiaNews about some episodes of the
life of a Cambodian woman, Yei Niang, who knew Fr. Rapin,
whose husband was taken by the Khmer Rouge, leaving her alone to raise three
children. Today,
Niang raises her four grandchildren and is "an example of strength for the
whole village."
Dear Friends,
it is
the tradition of every family to get together at Christmas, I take this
opportunity for myself to visit with you even if late ... and share a little 'of Cambodia. It's my gift, I hope it is
appreciated.
A
few days ago, Yei Niang (see photo) told me about when Father Rapi was killed. It's
been 40 years but the memory is still very much alive in her. It
was a night in late February, the Khmer Rouge for some months had occupied our
area with Vietkong, allied in a common war against America. Father
Pierre Rapin had arrived in a couple of years earlier, having long served the
Christian communities close to the border with Vietnam. Being
French, he was considered by the Khmer Rouge an enemy of the people, he knew
this. Communications
with the rest of the country had been interrupted, the mission of Kdol Leu had
been isolated, and only through smuggled letters was Fr. Rapin able to
exchange information with the outside world. The last one received by Msgr. Lesouef,
was a note, "Christians have asked me to stay. I will. To do the will of
God." The
bishop advised him to leave the mission area and move to a more secure place,
but before answering Fr. Rapin had
wanted to ask the opinion of his Christians. After
an intense meeting he said to them, "I'll stay as long as there is even
one of you," and he wrote to the bishop. Not
many days after that a bomb was placed
next to the wall of his room to kill him. The Christians saw at
once, Niang was among them. When she arrived,
she saw Fr. Rapin
seriously injured, but still alive, while being transported to a local
hospital. The
same Khmer Rouge who had planted the bomb were now taking him to treat him, a
few hours later they would return his dead body. Knowing he was close to the end, Fr. Rapin
said to the Christians: "Do not seek revenge ... I've already forgiven
them."
At
that time Yei Niang was a young mother of three children. Her
husband, a very good man, readily helped with the housework. One
day the Khmer Rouge took him to a meeting, from which he would never return. It
was the usual way to purge the enemies of the people, and Nai, as a Christian,
was among them. Christianity
was considered a foreign religion, western, and automatically our Christians
were cataloged among the friends of the Americans and spies of the CIA ( Yei
Niang still doesn't know its meaning even today).
Niang became a widow. But supported by a great faith. The church was
destroyed by bombing that killed Fr. Rapin,
and all the books and religious images burned. But
she, along with her mother, continued to pray in the silence of her home or in
the rice fields, far from prying ears, singing hymns and psalms. It
would take decades before it would be possible for Christians to gather again
to pray in public. It
was then that Niang decided to build a small chapel next to a bamboo house, to
gather Christians during missionaries' visits.
As
Yei Niang speaks to me, I hear the cries of the grandchildren who live with
her. They are
the children of her eldest daughter. The
wildest of them all is Sophi, nicknamed "A uot", or "the
plague", with her hair always messed up (recently put aside a little 'of
pennies to buy hair gel!), in continuous
movement. He is 6
years old and is the last of the three boys. The
smallest of all is Srey Uon: he has a temper too, but at least it is not in
constant dispute with the other brothers. The
first two appear instead like real angels, they must have got it from their
grandfather and help at home in everything, preparing food, bringing the cows to
graze and incredibly ... they are
doing well in school! These
four kids live with their grandmother because their parents are unable to care
for them: their father is now in Thailand, working as an illegal immigrant (in the
village he was always drunk) and their mother has been suffering from a serious
eye disease for several years. Yei
Niang decided to take care of these children, but it is not an easy task, as
she grows older and weaker and often gets sick. She
asks only one thing of the Lord, to live until her grandchildren are big enough
to make a living for themselves. This
year thanks to the suggestion of some Christians, Sok-Hiang, the second son,
went to study in Phnom Penh at the Salesians Don Bosco school. The
child has an overwhelming smile and when he returns to the village he always
wants to be an altar boy. These
days it is home because of an attack of dengue, but is already better. You'd
think he almost did so on purpose to come home for Christmas! The
largest, Sok-eng, it is also the quietest of all, he is always very calm, but
when he picks up a ball he breaks loose. In
the Christmas play he was a soldier of Herod, while "A uot" was one
of the shepherds ... I
was a bit worried at first, but in the end the pay went very well.
Yei
Niang is a great example to the village, her opinion is sought after and
listened to. She
never misses a meeting of the Pastoral Council, even though she may often nod
off overtaken by tiredness. She
is also always present for Sunday Mass, and the flower arrangements that
decorate the church are her work. Invariably
every Saturday afternoon she goes around the village visiting house to house. She
never fails to prepare a fresh vase to place before the mortal remains of Fr. Rapin. At
Christmas, after Mass, we finally transferred them to the new chapel built, next
to the church. I asked her
to take them.
A
few weeks ago the youth group staged a play based on the life of Fr. Rapin,
and at the end a voice said, "Forty years after the martyrdom of Fr.
Rapin, when everything seemed to be over, our community is instead alive and
full of hope." It's true. And
it is thanks to people like Yei Niang who did not lose hope in spite of darkness
all around. Perhaps
for this reason Jesus chose to be born at night.
Happy
New Year to all and thanks for your love and friendship.
Yours, Fr. Luca
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05/03/2015
15/07/2022 16:43
