Salas was born in
Phnom Penh on 21 October 1937 in Moutkrasal village along the Mekong river. He was born into a Catholic family. He had a brother named
Joseph Chhmar Salem who was also a catholic priest He studied a college seminary in Phnom Penh, after he continued his studies to a major seminary named "Issy les Moulineaux" in France in the year 1959 October For his formation as a priest, and was ordained in the year 1964 in Phnom penh becoming one of the first native Cambodians, alongside
Simon Chhem Yen and
Paul Tep Im Sotha, to become a Catholic priest. His first assignment was in the
Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang. He returned to
France for more studies. In March 1975, 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". 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. 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. 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. ==References==