After catholic church retuned to Cambodia in 1990, the first Cambodian priest, Monsignor Pierre Suon Hang Ly was appointed Pope Leo XIV as coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Phnom Penh. The nomination of Msgr. Pierre Suon Hang Ly was announced on June 28, 2025. Msgr. Ly is second Cambodian priest who was appointed the young Father Joseph Chmar Salas as a Coadjutor Vicar of Phnom Penh on April 06, 1975 by Pope Paul VI in the long history of the Catholic Church in Cambodia. Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler, Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh thanks the Lord for Msgr. Ly’s presence at my side as his Coadjutor Vicar. “I thank Msgr. Ly from the bottom of my heart for having accepted with trust and abandon, like the Virgin, this new mission in the service of the People of God in Phnom Penh”, he said Msgr. Ly already knew the Vicariate of Phnom Penh very well, with its diversity, its dynamism, and its challenges in this new society being built, said Bishop. The appointment of a Cambodian Vicar Apostolic is a sign of the maturity of our local Church and a strong signal for rooting our small Catholic Church even more deeply in society, culture, and the lives of the people, said bishop Olivier. “I will continue my service as Vicar Apostolic of Phnom Penh for a while with Msgr. Ly as my Coadjutor”, he underlined. Msgr. Ly was born on April 15, 1972, in Pho Thom, the home village of Bishop Joseph Chmar Salas, Monsignor Ly attended the major seminary in Battambang and then in Phnom Penh. He was ordained a priest on December 9, 2001. From 2002 to 2007, we worked together in Kampot and Takeo, then Msgr. Ly went to study at the Catholic Institute of Paris until 2015. When he returned back to Phnom Penh, he was appointed as the parish priest of the new Pastoral Sector of Phnom Penh Thmey Vicar General. In July 2022, Msgr. Ly was appointed Apostolic Prefect of Kompong Cham.