Deacon Khamsan Mim Khounthichak was ordained a priest on his deathbed by Bishop Rolando Santos of Manila on June 13, 2022, on the feast day of Saint Anthony of Padua, priest and doctor of the Church.
The Mass was presided over by the bishop of Alotau-Sideia diocese in Papua New Guinea, who used a small table as an altar in the ward. During the Mass, the bishop elevated Lao deacon Deacon Khamsan to the rank of a priest by placing his hand on the priest's head and anointing his palm with holy oil.
In a Facebook post, the concelebrant priest and his Vietnamese friend Father Trieu Pham Minh said “the vocation of this new priest is a special and rare one for his diocese and Lao Church".
Coming from the Apostolic Representative of Pakse, Father Khamsan has worked for many years as a leader of young lay people. In 2008, he went to Manila for the first time for a year of Theological training with the Fondacio community, which is a global initiative of Christians related to Charismatic renewal. During his time as a lay leader in Laos, Khamsan served the abandoned and vulnerable in border areas.
He often helped them in concentration camps and prayed with them. Khamsan also baptizes their babies in the absence of a priest. However, his pastoral activities were so unfavorable to the communist authorities that he was imprisoned twice.
In 2018, he felt a call to engage in priestly ministry and returned to Manila to join the St Vincent Theological School to begin his Theosophical studies. Last month, he should have received his diploma, but Khamsan experienced a severe backache. He was diagnosed with end stage spinal cord cancer.
Although he was hospitalized for a long time, exhausted and a little exhausted, he still cherished – the desire to become a priest, to offer the sacrifice of his sick and painful body and the holy blood of Jesus to the Father to pray. for the Church in Laos to have peace and prosperity.
Noticing his zeal, his bishop was moved and agreed to expedite his early ordination.
The simple Mass was celebrated in a sacred atmosphere but filled with God's grace.
Currently, the Lao Church does not have any diocese. Instead, Laos is divided into four Apostolic Vicars; The Apostolic Vicariate of Luang Prabang, led by Vicar Priest Tito Banchong Thopanhong, since 1999.
Apostolic Vicariate of Pakse, currently vacant
The Apostolic Vicariate of Savannakhet, led by Bishop Jean Marie Vianney Prida Inthirath, since 2010.
Nationwide there are 66,000 Catholics in a nation of seven million people and they are scattered across the four apostolic representatives- Please pray for the new priest and the church in Laos.
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