After two years of disruption from the global pandemic, the Association of Southeast and East Asian Catholic Colleges and Universities (ASEACCU) has finally been able to come together for the 28th ASEACCU Conference, this time hosted by Saint Paul Institute in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 23 to 27 August 2022.
The week-long conference covered insight and conversations on ‘memory and identity,’ as grounded in the incredible history of Cambodia as well as its cultural and spiritual roots in Buddhism. In his opening remarks, His Excellency Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler, the Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh, emphasized that without memory, there is no future since “a nation is built over centuries on a common memory that creates attitudes and (above all) the feeling of a common belonging.” The title of the conference harkens this, referring to the book Identity and Memory by Saint Pope John Paul II published in 2005. In the book, the Holy Father reflected on some of the most challenging issues and most critical questions of our times.
The ASEACCU Conference, therefore, was able to interrogate the concept of identity through the lens of culturally-sensitive nationhood, freedom, and memorialization justice.
The conference was graced by honored guests such as His Excellency Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, Minister of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Dr. Isabel Capelao Gil, the President of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), and the various academic heads of the ASEACCU Board of Trustees. Students also wonderfully represented the Asia-Pacific countries, with representatives from Australia, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea.
The spirit of the 28th ASEACCU Conference was that of intercultural and interspiritual dialogue that enriches reflections on memory and identity.