Public Masses banned in Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, bishop says

Published: 2004-01-06

DEONIYA, Nepal (CNS) -- Christians are not allowed to hold public church services in the remote Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, according to the bishop whose diocesan territory includes the tiny nation. In addition, priests are routinely denied permits to enter the country, said Bishop Stephen Lepcha of Darjeeling, India, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Bishop Lepcha is based in Darjeeling, near India's border with Nepal. He is an ethnic Lepcha, the aboriginal inhabitants of the Sikkim region of India and neighboring parts of Nepal and Bhutan. He spoke to UCA News from Deoniya, where he ordained a Lepcha Jesuit priest. The bishop said that Buddhism is Bhutan's state religion and any sort of proselytizing by other religions is prohibited. Migrant Christians from India and Nepal "enjoyed freedom to hold church services in public" until a few years ago, he said. Since then, "all public church services have been banned, and any breach of that ban invites incarceration."

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