Buddhist authorities in Cambodia bestowed the title of “Elder Great Lay Supporter and Upholder of the Buddha’s Dispensation” upon the nation’s leading Catholic prelate and named a primary school for future Buddhist monks after him.
Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler, M.E.P., the vicar apostolic of Phnom Penh, also received from the nation’s king the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia.
Bishop Schmitthaeusler described the award from King Norodom Sihamoni as “a sign of the shared mission between Buddhists and Catholics, which is bearing tangible fruit in the service of Cambodian society.” The prelate added that “the Catholic Church and Buddhism walk hand in hand for the common good of our people and our country,”
Located in Southeast Asia, Cambodia, a nation of 17.2 million (map), is 87% Buddhist and 3% Christian, with 6% adhering to ethnic or Chinese folk religions. Buddhism is the state religion.