Christianity in Bangladesh

File:Church of St. Nicholas Tolentino, Bangladesh.jpg

One of the oldest churches in Bangladesh, dating back to 1663

File:Patharghatta Catholic Church Chittagong.JPG

The Portuguese Church in Old Chittagong; the seat of the Bishop of Chittagong

File:The Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection, built in 1781, Dhaka.jpg

Dhaka's Armenian Church; built in 1781

The earliest recorded Christians in the territory of modern-day Bangladesh arrived during the Bengal Sultanate. Portuguese missionaries and traders in Porto Grande, Chittagong built the region's first churches during the 16th-century. The Jesuits opened their first mission in 1600. Mughal and colonial Dhaka was home to Armenians, Greeks, Catholics and Anglicans.

Contributions

Having worked in Bangladesh as a missionary since 1952, Father Richard William Timm, C.S.C. won the Ramon Magsaysay Award Peace and International Understanding, the Asian Nobel Prize, in 1987 in recognition of his work as biologist, combating parasitic worms, and relief efforts with Caritas.

Persecution

While anti-Christian incidents do occur from time to time, Christians in Bangladesh, due to their small numbers and status as People of the Book, generally do not come under negative attention from Muslims nearly as often as the larger Hindu minority.

Main articles: Persecution of Christians § Bangladesh, and Freedom of religion in Bangladesh

See also

• National Council of Churches in Bangladesh
• Buddhism in Bangladesh
• Hinduism in Bangladesh
• Islam in Bangladesh

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.