Life
Early life and education
Salas was born in Phnom Penh on 21 October 1937 in Moutkrasal village along the Mekong river. He was born into a Traditional Catholic family.[1] Salas was the eldest of his siblings. He had a younger sister, Yu Chhmar Prakod, and a younger brother, Joseph Chhmar Salem, who was also a Catholic priest. He studied in a minor seminary in Phnom Penh, afterwards he continued his studies to a major seminary named "Issy les Moulineaux" in France on October 1959 For his formation as a priest.
Priesthood
Salas was ordained a deacon at the Saint-Sulpice Chapel in Issy-les-Moulineaux on 2 February 1964. He was ordained a priest on 24 June 1964 by Bishop Yves Ramousse at the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Phnom Penh, [2]becoming one of the first native Cambodians, alongside Simon Chhem Yen and Paul Tep Im Sotha, to become a Catholic priest.[3] Following his ordination, Salas was assigned to the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, where he established a training center for catechists. In 1974, he returned to Paris, France, to pursue advanced Biblical studies.
In March 1974, he was returned to Cambodia urgently. On his return, he knew he would face death. Even so, he still returned with courage. When he decided to return to his country from Paris, he told his friend that "I return to Cambodia, to die".[4]
Episcopal ministry and Khmer Rouge era
In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia. They founded a Communist state with the name of Democratic Kampuchea, where any religion was forbidden and destruction of religious sites was frequent. In May 1975, foreigners were expelled, including Catholic priests and religious, while natives were forced to work in rice fields and many of them were executed.[5]
French Bishop Yves Ramousse was at the head of the Cambodian Church when the Khmer Rouge took power. Anticipating his expulsion from the country for being a foreigner,he called Salas back to Cambodia. On 14 April 1975, the Holy See appointed Salas as Coadjutor Bishop for the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh. He was ordained 3 days before the Khmer rouge seized Phnom Penh.[6]
Bishop Ramousse was expelled from the country with many other foreign priests and religious. Most Cambodian priests and religious remained in the country, very few would survive.[5]
In 1976, Bishop Ramousse resigned as head of the Cambodian Church. Salas became the head, in Kompong Thom. He died of exhaustion in September 1977 in the Taing Kork Pagoda.[5]
On 1 May 2015, the Cambodian Catholic Church officially opened an inquiry into the presumed martyrdom of Joseph Chhmar Salas and another 33 persons who died during the time of the Khmer Rouge regime.[7]
