Pierre Sophal Tonlop

{{short description|Cambodian Roman Catholic priest (born 1953)}}

{{family name hatnote|Sophal|Tonlop|lang=Cambodian}}

{{Infobox Christian leader

| type = Priest

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| name = Pierre Sophal Tonlop

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| church = Roman Catholic Church

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| province = Battambang

| see = Battambang

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| ordination = 22 July 1995

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| birth_date = 1953

| birth_place = Phnom Penh{{cite journal|last=Senechal|first=Vincent Yves|title=Priestly Formation in the Asian Contexts: Application of the Church's Teachings to the Church and the Society in Cambodia|journal=Catholic Theology and Thought |issue=Special |page=145 |url=http://stt.catholic.ac.kr/DATA/STTBOOK/1436491703370.pdf|access-date=3 July 2020}}

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| honorific_prefix = The Reverend

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Pierre Sophal Tonlop ({{langx|km|ទម្លាប់ សុផល}}; born 1953){{cite web|title=Our Priests|url=http://www.battambangparish.org/our-priests.html|website=Our Lady of the Assumption Parish|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622112804/http://www.battambangparish.org/our-priests.html|archive-date=22 June 2012|url-status=live}} is a Cambodian Catholic priest best known as the first native of Cambodia to be ordained a priest after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979; he was ordained on 22 July 1995 and assigned to the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang.{{cite news|title=Cambodians See First Religious Profession in 20 Years|url=https://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1996/09/13/cambodians-see-first-religious-profession-in-20-years|access-date=2 July 2020|work=UCA News|publisher=Union of Catholic Asian News Limited|date=12 September 1996}}{{cite news|title=Ordination d'un évêque coadjuteur à Phnom Penh|url=https://missionsetrangeres.com/eglises-asie/1997-10-16-ordination-dun-eveque-coadjuteur-a-phnom-penh/|access-date=3 July 2020|work=Missions Éntrangères de Paris|date=18 March 2010|language=French}}

Tonlop was a resident of Canada from 1984 to 1990, during which he studied at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal (Major Seminary of Montreal).{{cite news|last=Trịnh|first=Tuấn Hoàng|title=Hội Bác Ái Phanxicô Với Linh Mục TONLOP SOPHAL: Cứu Sống Người Việt Nam Tha Hương Ơ Biển Hồ Campuchia|url=https://vietbao.com/p122a111287/10078/hoi-bac-ai-phanxico-voi-linh-muc-tonlop-sophal-cuu-song-nguoi-viet-nam-tha-huong-o-bien-ho-campuchia|work=Việt Báo Daily News|location=Garden Grove, California|access-date=3 July 2020|language=Vietnamese|date=15 October 2007}} From 1990 to 1993, he continued his studies in France. By 1994, after his ordination as a deacon, he volunteered to become a missionary in Cambodia for a return to his native country, where he later became a priest the year after.

As of 2012, he is Battambang's Vicar Delegate in charge of caring for Vietnamese Catholic communities in the country, alongside heading the Rice Bank of the Church.{{cite web|title=The Church in Cambodia|url=http://www.battambang.net/aboutus.html|website=Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang|publisher=Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910031005/http://www.battambang.net/aboutus.html|archive-date=10 September 2011|url-status=live}}