Christians are estimated to make up approximately 1% of the population in Bhutan, or approximately 8,000 people.[1] Other figures suggest that they are more than 2% of the population.[2][3]
In 1627 two PortugueseJesuits,Estêvão Cacella andJoão Cabral, traveling fromKochi and attempting to make a new route to theJesuit mission inShigatse,Tibet,[4] visitedBhutan. While in Bhutan, Father Cacella and Father Cabral metNgawang Namgyal, the founder and religious leader of the Bhutanese state, and spent months in his court.[5] The "Zhabdrung strongly encouraged the Jesuits to stay and even allowed them to use a room inCheri [Monastery] as a chapel, granted them land inParo 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."[6] 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.[7]
A few Protestant missions were established in Bhutan by several missionary groups likeWilliam Carey's Bootan Mission, theScandinavian Alliance Mission, theChurch of Scotland Eastern Himalayan Mission and others during the 19th and early 20th century but all were unsuccessful in gaining converts.[5]
Article 7 of the 2008 constitution guarantees religious freedom, but also forbids conversion 'by means of coercion or inducement'.[8]Forced religious conversions are punishable by up to three years in prison;[2] converts to Christianity can face social pressure to return to their original religion.
The constitution states that Buddhism is the state's “spiritual heritage”.[2]
In 2007,Vajrayana Buddhism was theState 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]
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. TheIndian New Life League is another Protestant denomination and has one congregation in Bhutan. TheDiocese of Eastern Himalaya is a diocese of theChurch of North India, with its seat atDarjeeling. 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 Jesus Christ. They are called "brethren" and number about 400 in Bhutan.[This paragraph needs citation(s)]
In 2002 : According to a 2002 report cited by theBhutanese Christians Services Centre NGO, "the 65,000 Christians [in the country] have only one church at their disposal."[13]
In 2006 : According toMission 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."[14]
In 2007 : According toGospel 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]."[15]
According toOpen Doors, in the 2020s, women are at the greatest risk of persecution as they can face divorce or forced marriage; men can be disowned and disinherited by their families.[16]
The Bhutanese Christians Services Centre is an NGO informing on persecution of Christians in Bhutan.[17]
Online Radio Box runs an online Christian radio station in Bhutan.[18] TheWords of Hope group broadcasts a Christian radio programme for 45 minutes a week.[19]
^abcd"Bhutan".United States Department of State. Retrieved2025-11-22.
^"Bhutan".Open Doors UK & Ireland. Retrieved2025-11-22.
^David M. Malone (March 2008)."Our Man in Bhutan".Literary Review of Canada. Archived fromthe original on 2008-04-21. Retrieved2008-03-11.
^abWangyal, Tandin (2019-04-18),"Bhutan",Christianity in South and Central Asia, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 180–183,ISBN978-1-4744-3984-8, retrieved2025-08-14{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
^Karma Phuntsho (2013).The History of Bhutan. Random House India. pp. 224–227.ISBN9788184003116.
^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 entitledThe 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)
^[1], Bhoutan, sur le siteAide 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."
