French priest who served Cambodia for 56 years dies at 85

A French missionary who had served the Catholic Church in Cambodia for 56 years died at 85 on January 17, 2027.

Father François Ponchaud, a member of the Paris Foreign Missions (MEP) society, was the author of the book, “Cambodia Year Zero.”

In 2021, he had returned to France.

Savong Duong, who had worked with him for more than 20 years at the Catholic Cambodia Cultural Center in Phnom Penh, thanked the French priest for the translated documents for the Catholic Church in Cambodia, especially the catechism books, other documents, and the Holy Bible.

Recalling the memories with Ponchaud, Savong said, "The priest always reminded me not to come late and neither work overtime. For him, he respected time.”

“Ponchaud was not only a translator, but he applied what he said and guided us toward love and by action,” Savong added.

The priest helped villagers in agriculture, roads, dams, and canals in his mission in Kampong Cham, in the East of Cambodia. “All these, I saw in his reports,” recalled Savong.

Besides, the priest was also involved with education, building schools and hostels for students, and giving scholarships to them.

“I can say that the Word of God is fully present in his soul, and it flamed him to take action,” Savong said.

Ponchaud was born on November 8, 1939, in Sallanches, France. He was the seventh among the 12 siblings. His father’s name was Leon Ponchaud, a farmer.

After attending seminars for the Annecy Diocese in France, he served as an Algerian paratrooper for 28 months.

He joined the Paris Mission Society (MEP) in 1957 and later went on a mission to Cambodia.

He first arrived in Cambodia in 1965. In three years, he studied the Khmer language and its culture and oversaw some communities. Then he served Kampong Cham Prefecture in 1968.

Seeing the church's shortage of Catholic literature in 1970–1975, he translated many documents, including the Holy Bible and Eucharist rites, into Khmer.

The Khmer Rouge invaded Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, on April 17, 1975, and detained Ponchaud at the French Embassy. The Khmer Rouge deported him from Cambodia three weeks later as the latest foreigner.​​ 

During his exile, Ponchaud lived in France and traveled around the world, visiting Cambodian refugees in France, Europe, Canada, and the United States, as well as Cambodian Thai refugee camps near the border of Cambodia.

He followed the news on the radio, many official documents, and through the letters of refugees describing the regime.

In 1976, he compiled the book “Cambodia Year Zero” to testify about the Khmer Rouge massacre to the international community for intervention.

The book was translated into eight languages. It became an instrument to push the international community, forcing Vietnam to stop controlling Cambodia in 1989.

“I guess Vietnam occupied Cambodia forever, and Cambodians no longer occupied their country, but Vietnam withdrew due to the force of the international pressure. I am also in the international voice; my book, ‘Cambodia Year Zero,’ has made the international community pay attention to the Cambodian people,” said Ponchaud in an interview with the Catholic Social Communications in Cambodia, National Office, on December 19, 2021, before he left to live in France.

After Cambodia achieved peace, the Paris Agreement, and the end of the Vietnamese occupation, the priest returned to Cambodia in 1993.

During that time, Cambodia needed to start again, and many missionaries and volunteers came to serve.

The priest set up the Cambodia Catholic Cultural Center to help the missionaries learn and understand the Khmer language and culture so they could easily serve the Good News to the Cambodian people. 

In 2016, he was assigned to work in a small community in Tbong Khmum province. There he worked to help Cambodians in education and social development.

He always said that he came to Cambodia not to convert Cambodians but to let them know what they received and learned from the Buddha.

"See how Buddhism and Christianity—the words of Jesus—fit together, and if they want to convert to Catholicism or have faith in Jesus, I am happy," he said on December 13, 2021, in his farewell to France.

Besides the history of Cambodia, he also compiled the history of Catholicism in Cambodia, wrote books for catechism classes, and translated the Vatican Council II, Bible explanation, and many church documents into the Khmer language.

He wrote and spoke well in interfaith dialogue based on respect for Buddhism, the country's largest religion.

Before leaving for France on December 21, 2021, he said, "Even though I leave this place ... I keep you as the body of Christ in my heart, even though I am in France."

"My only advice is to practice the Catholic faith with care and protect the Khmer civilization; this is our goal,” he had said. -Kagnha Keo, RVAKhmer