User:Willuconquer/Yves Ramousse

Yves Ramousse, who was born on February 23, 1928 in Sembadel, is a French Catholic bishop, member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP) and Vicar Apostolic Emeritus of Phnom Penh in Cambodia since 2001.

The youngest bishop in the world in 1962
Yves Ramousse was ordained a priest on April 4, 1953 for the Foreign Missions of Paris and sent for the mission to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Appointed vicar apostolic of Phnom Penh in Cambodia on November 12, 1962 with the title of bishop in partibus of Pisita, he was consecrated on February 24, 1963 by his predecessor, at the age of 35 making him the youngest bishop in the world at that time.

A participant in the Second Vatican Council with a missionary impetus
He participated in Sessions 2, 3 and 4 of Vatican Council II, of which he was one of the youngest participants.

A survivor of the Khmer genocide and a missionary witness in the refugee camps
As the political situation decayed in Cambodia, Bishop Yves Ramousse was accused of being incapable of making any decisions, though the aftermath shows how complicatedthe situation actually was Following the Cambodian civil war, he resigned from his duties on April 30, 1976 in favor of a Khmer priest Joseph Chhmar Salas whom he ordained bishop in Phnom Penh shortly before the expulsion of Western nationals by the Khmer Rouge. The latter who was the first Khmer bishop in history would shortly after die a martyr in the killing fields of Pol Pot. He took refuge in Indonesia and obtained on January 6, 1983 from the Congregation for the evangelization of peoples the creation of an Office for the promotion of the apostolate among the Khmer people of which he became the first director. He thus continued his commitment in favor of his country of mission.

The Resurrection of the Church in Cambodia
On February 21, 1992, Yves Ramousse was granted an official audience by King Sihanouk in which he was encouraged to develop the work of the Catholic Church in Cambodia. He was again appointed vicar apostolic of Phnom-Penh on July 6, 1992 by Pope John Paul II following the appeasement of the conflict and the return of some missionary priests to Cambodia in 1990. He also assumed the mission of apostolic administrator of the Battambang Apostolic Prefecture, until the appointment of Archbishop Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzález, April 1, 2000. He lead the Church of Cambodia through its resurrection, after years of persecution, but many considered him tired and used out by his many trials.

Resignation and retirement in France
He resigned for reasons of age on April 14, 2001, giving way to another French bishop of the Foreign Missions of Paris, His Excellency Emile Destombes, his coadjutor since 1997.

He is currently retired to France, at the retirement home of the Missions Étrangères de Paris, in Montbeton.