Christianity in Bhutan

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The French Internet site "Aide à l'Eglise en détresse" (Aid to the Church in Need) puts the figure of Christians in Bhutan at 12,255, with 1,000 Roman Catholics, making it a total of 0.9% of the population. The population also consists of 84% Buddhists, 11.4% Hindus, 3.4% Animists and 0.3% uncategorized.[1]

Origins

In 1627 two Pourtugese Jesuits, Fr. Estêvão Cacella and Fr. João Cabral, traveling from Kochi and attempting to make a new route to the Jesuit mission in Shigatse, Tibet,[2] visited Bhutan. While in Bhutan, Father Cacella and Father Cabral met Ngawang Namgyal, the founder and religious leader of the Bhutanese state, and spent months in his court. The "Zhabdrung strongly encouraged the Jesuits to stay and even allowed them to use a room in Cheri [Monastery] as a chapel, granted them land in Paro to build a church and sent some of his own attendants to join the congregation. With no success in conversion and despite much discouragement from the Zhabdrung against their departure, the Jesuits eventually left for Tibet."[3] At the end of a stay of nearly eight months in the country, Father Cacella wrote a long letter from Cheri Monastery, to his superior in Cochin in the Malabar Coast; it was a report, The Relacao, relating the progress of their travels. Their visit is also corroborated in contemporaneous Bhutanese sources, including the biography of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. [4]

The 2008 Constitution

Article 7 of the 2008 constitution guarantees religious freedom, but also forbids conversion 'by means of coercion or inducement'. [5] According to Open Doors, this hinders the ability of Christians to proselytize.[6]

Christian communities

There is a relatively large Christian population in Southern Bhutan. [7]

Roman Catholics

Territorially, Roman Catholics in Bhutan belong to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Darjeeling.[8]

Protestants

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The majority of the country's Christians are Pentecostals. The Church of God in Christ, which claims to be the denomination supplying most gospel tracts in Bhutan, has a Pentecostal character and has about two congregations in Bhutan. The Indian New Life League is another Protestant denomination and has one congregation in Bhutan. The Diocese of Eastern Himalaya is a diocese of the Church of North India, with its seat at Darjeeling. There are other Protestant groups, like El-Shaddai, and there are also Christians who are not members of the denominational churches, who simply gather as Christians in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are called "brethren" and number about 400 in Bhutan.

Mahayana Buddhism as state religion

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Main article: Buddhism in Bhutan

Mahayana Buddhism is the State religion of Bhutan.[9] Bhutan is the last remaining country in which Buddhism in its tantric, vajrayana form, also called lamaism, is the state religion.[10]

According to Article 3 of the 2008 Constitution, "Buddhism is the spiritual heritage of Bhutan, which promotes the principles and values of peace, non-violence, compassion and tolerance". "The Druk Gyalpo [or King] is the protector of all religions in Bhutan". Article 3 stipulates that "It shall be the responsibility of religious institutions and personalities to promote the spiritual heritage of the country while also ensuring that religion remains separate from politics in Bhutan. Religious institutions and personalities shall remain above politics."

Because the constitution itself states that the spiritual heritage of Bhutan is Buddhism and it also says "It shall be the responsibility of religious institutions and personalities to promote the spiritual heritage", implies that it is the responsibility of other religions to promote Buddhism, which in effect imposes politically via the constitution, Buddhism as the national religion.

Restrictions on the Christian faith

Before 2008

  • In 2002 : According to a 2002 report cited by the Bhutanese Christians Services Centre NGO, "the 65,000 Christians [in the country] have only one church at their disposal."[11]
  • In 2006 : According to Mission Network News, "it's illegal for a Buddhist to become a Christian and church buildings are forbidden. (...) Christians in Bhutan are only allowed to practice their faith at home. Those who openly choose to follow Christ can be expelled from Bhutan and stripped of their citizenship."[12]
  • In 2007 : According to Gospel for Asia, "the government has recently begun clamping down on Christians by barring some congregations from meeting for worship. This has caused at least two Gospel for Asia-affiliated churches to temporarily close their doors. (...) Under Bhutan law, it is illegal to attempt to convert people from the country’s two predominant religions [Buddhism and Hinduism]."[13]

After 2008

According to the "Open Doors" ONG, "Persecution in Buddhist Bhutan mainly comes from the family, the community, and the monks who yield a strong influence in the society. Cases of atrocities (i.e. beatings) have been decreasing in number; this may continue as a result of major changes in the country, including the implementation of a new constitution guaranteeing greater religious liberty." [14]

Proselytizing

According to the U. S. State Department's 2007 Report on International Religious Freedom no forced religious conversion has been known. [15]

Christian media

The Bhutanese Christians Services Centre is an NGO informing on persecution of Christians in Bhutan. [16] The Gospel for Asia radio broadcasts in five languages reaching Bhutan. [17]

References

  1. ↑ Bhoutan, Aide à l'Église en détresse, "Appartenance religieuse".
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ gTsang mKhan-chen ’Jam-dbyangs dPal-ldan rGyamtsho (c.1675). Dpal ’brug pa rin po che ngag dbang rnam rgyal gyi rnam par thar pa rgyas pa chos kyi sprin chen po’i dbyangs, in 5 parts (Ka - Ca) and a supplement (Cha).Reprint by Topden Tshering entitled The Detailed Biography of the First Zabs-drung Rinpoche of Bhutan Ngag-dbang-rnam-rgyal (Ngag-dbang-bdud-’joms-rdo-rje) (Dolanji, 1974, from the Punakha woodblocks of ca. 1797-1802)
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Bhutan, Open Doors.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ [1], Bhoutan, sur le site Aide à l'Église en détresse: "[le] diocèse indien de Darjeeling [...] inclut dans son territoire la petite nation du Bhoutan" (i.e. "the Indian diocese of Darjeeling [...] includes the small nation of Bhutan in its sphere."
  9. ↑ Bhutan, International Religious Freedom Report 2007, State Department.
  10. ↑ Malgré la liberté de religion inscrite dans la Constitution, les chrétiens ne peuvent toujours ni pratiquer en public, ni construire de lieux de culte (Bulletin EDA n° 524), sur le site EDA (Églises d'Asie), Agence d'information des missions étrangères de Paris.
  11. ↑ Reports on Situation of Christians in Bhutan, Bhutan4Christ.
  12. ↑ Leadership change in Bhutan sparks hope for ministry, Mission Network News, 26 December, 2006.
  13. ↑ Bhutanese Christians Barred from Attending Worship Services, Gospel For Asia,July 5, 2007.
  14. ↑ 'New Research Shows Christians Worldwide Facing Increasing Hostility in Practising Their Faith', Says Open Doors, Press Release, 13 February 2009.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

See also

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