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. 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."[5] 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.[6]
Article 7 of the 2008 constitution guarantees religious freedom, but also forbids conversion 'by means of coercion or inducement'.[7]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.[8] Bhutan is the last remaining country in which Buddhism in its tantric,vajrayana form, also called lamaism, is the state religion.[9]
A 2022 report notes that most Christians live mainly in the south of the country.[2]
Territorially, Roman Catholics in Bhutan belong to theRoman Catholic Diocese of Darjeeling.[10] The country has one native-born priest, aJesuit.[11]
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.
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.[15]
The Bhutanese Christians Services Centre is an NGO informing on persecution of Christians in Bhutan.[16]
Online Radio Box runs an online Christian radio station in Bhutan.[17] TheWords of Hope group broadcasts a Christian radio programme for 45 minutes a week.[18]
TheDzongkha Bible, translated from theNew King James Version, is available. It comes in the forms of the combined Old/New Testament book, theNew Testament only, and the New Testament withPsalms andProverbs.[19] As of 2023, noTshangla Bible has been published yet.[20]
