Roman Catholic Church in Bhutan

The Roman Catholic Church in Bhutan belongs to the Roman Catholic Church with the primacy of the Pope . Bhutan is part of the Darjeeling Diocese in India.

overview

Estêvão Cacella and João Cabral , Jesuit missionaries from Portugal , were the first Europeans in Bhutan . They traveled from Kochi, India, in 1627 and lived at the court of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel , the founder of Bhutan. After eight months they both traveled to Xigazê in Tibet to set up a mission station.

The Catholic Church as well as other Christian denominations with an estimated 10,000 Christians are banned in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Christians in Bhutan are made up of a small group of foreigners, converts with Buddhist or Hindu backgrounds, and members of non-traditional Protestant communities. Mission activities are prohibited by the state. “On May 24, 2011, the government made an amendment to this law that includes an anti-conversion clause. This has been included in the Criminal Code ”. The building of churches and public services are not tolerated. The last official visit by a Catholic bishop was in 1993. In 2011, the Archbishop of Guwahati , Thomas Menamparampil , secretly visited underground Catholic communities in Geddu , Tongsa , Bumthang , Mongar , Tashigang , Kanglung and Sandrup Jongkhar and Thimphu .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and the visit of the Portuguese Jesuit Patres Father Estevão Cacella and Father João Cabral in 1627 . Pro Bhutan eV, philanthropic association for active development aid in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, 2011, accessed on March 26, 2017 (pdf; 968 kB, English).
2. ↑ ^{a b} Giuseppe Nardi: Bishop secretly visits Christians in Bhutan after 18 years . Asianews article on Katholisch.info, March 23, 2011, accessed March 26, 2017.
3. ↑ Bhutan . ( Memento of the original from December 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Open Doors , status of the country profile January 2017, accessed on March 26, 2017.