Christianity in Nepal

[12] After the revolution of 1951, foreign missionaries were permitted to enter Nepal to perform social service work, but proselytization and conversion were still legally prohibited.

[13] It was only after the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1990, and the relaxation of restrictions on conversion,[14] that the Nepali church began to grow rapidly,[15] but attempts to convert others remain illegal as of 2023[update].

[24] In 2017, Nepal's parliament passed a bill which prohibited 'hurting the religious sentiment of any caste, ethnic community or class by writing, through voice/talk or by a shape or symbol or in any other such manner'.

[29] The Capuchins were surprised by the warm welcome afforded to them by the king of Bhaktapur, Ranajit Malla, who, one wrote, 'embraced us all affectionately and treated us with great familiarity and confidence; he made us sit at his side and kept us for more than an hour'.

[30] The Capuchins refused this offer, and, although they succeeded in making a small number of voluntary local converts,[31] their mission was put to an end in 1769 after Prithvi Narayan Shah, the ruler of Gorkha, conquered the Kathmandu Valley and expelled all Christians from his new kingdom.

[32] The Newar Christians took refuge in India, settling first in the city of Bettiah and then later moving eleven kilometres north to Chuhari, where they reside to this day.

After forty years of ministry to the Nepali-speaking community in northern India, focused mainly on producing a Bible translation and other evangelistic materials in Nepali, he decided in 1914 to return with his family to Kathmandu to establish a Christian presence in Nepal.

[45] In 1957 a group of Nepali Christians from Kalimpong, led by Robert Karthak and including Gyaani Shah and Elizabeth Franklin, established a fellowship in Kathmandu, later known as Nepal Isai Mandali.

[50] During this period most churches opted, as Kehrberg has described, to 'worship in an eastern style, removing one's shoes and sitting on the floor with men and women seated on opposite sides; not using pews [...].

[56] Due to the long process of preparation that precedes Baptism, and a soteriology that does not compel them to attempt as many conversions as possible, the Nepali Catholic church has grown slowly, having 10,000 members by 2011.

With this decision, a meeting held on 28–30 September 1956 decided to send Ms. K. Circar, the then honorary secretary, Dr. A. Rallaram to visit Nepal and locate a starting station for the mission.

A 2013 report by Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary found that Nepal's church was the fastest growing in the world, with an annual growth rate of 10.9% since 1970.

[87] Additionally, some denominational missionary groups (not associated with UMN or INF) have adopted methods of relief or development work arousing widespread social concern, particularly in the wake of the 2015 earthquake.

[89] Informed observers have judged that the contemporary Nepali church is too large and organizationally diverse (see Demographics) to be susceptible to systematic foreign resourcing or control.

[90] Although numerically much smaller than Nepali Protestantism (see Demographics), Catholicism in Nepal exercises significant influence through its educational, interreligious, and social service work.

St Xavier's School has educated several generations of the Nepali elite, including the children of high-ranking political, bureaucratic, and military officials.

[91] Gyanendra Shah, Nepal's king from 2001 to 2008, is said to have been positively disposed towards Christianity as a result of his friendship with his former teacher, Bishop Anthony Sharma S.J.

[96] Nepali Catholics have played leading roles in interreligious dialogue in recent decades,[97] and Kathmandu's Assumption Cathedral incorporates Newari and Tibetan styles of architecture and mural painting.

[101] A statement of this prohibition can be found in the legal code of 1935:[102] To him who preaches beliefs opposed to the traditional religion of the subjects of the kingdom, to him who abandons or cause to abandon one religion to adopt, or cause to adopt, another one, the following rules will be applied: In the whole of the kingdom of Gorkha – Nepal, putting into practice (calauna) and preaching (pracar garna)….

Kabir panthi, Christian, Islamic and other irreligious (vi-dharmi) and foreign (vi-deshi) beliefs (mat) which ruin the religion traditionally practised (sanatan-dekhi hindu jati ma cali-aeko) by the Hindu community and the caste hierarchy, is prohibited; converting to these beliefs any of our subjects belonging to the Brahman caste, or any other clean caste is prohibited.These laws were in force even after the revolution of 1951, and were reaffirmed in the legal code of 1963, which prohibited the preaching of Christianity or Islam and stipulated three years in jail for those who attempted to convert people, and six years for those who succeeded in converting others.

[104] Following baptisms in Nepalgunj and Tansen between 1958 and 1960, pastors David Mukhia and Prem Pradhan, along with six baptised believers, were prosecuted by the authorities for proselytism and conversion.

[105] Prosecutions such as this continued for the whole of the Panchayat period:[106] when an amnesty was proclaimed in 1990 there were 30 individuals in Nepal imprisoned for crimes of proselytism or conversion, and 200 others who were subject to legal action for the same offences.

[60] The interim constitution of 2007, adopted after the democracy movement of 2006, was identical to the 1990 code in these respects;[107] it also proclaimed Nepal a secular state[108] and included guarantees on religious freedom.

In 2017, Nepal's parliament passed an ambiguously worded law criminalizing 'hurting the religious sentiment of any caste, ethnic community or class by writing, through voice/talk or by a shape or symbol or in any other such manner', and stipulating that 'nobody should indulge in any act or conduct so as to undermine the religion, faith or belief that any caste, ethnic group or community has been observing since eternal times'.

[112] In other South Asian countries, similarly worded laws, which have sometimes been interpreted as prohibiting even speaking about one's faith, have been used to settle personal vendettas or harass Muslim or Christian minorities.

It has been reported that local government and police officials have begun to interpret the constitutional ban on proselytism to include non-coercive evangelism,[115] and have brought a number of legal cases against Christians on this basis.

[122] It is impossible to determine with certainty the exact number of Christians in Nepal today, but most informed observers agree that the 2011 Census's figure of 375,699[2] (1.4% of the population) is a significant underestimate.

[129] Additionally, there are small numbers of adherents to non-mainstream Christian groups in Nepal, such as the Seventh-Day Adventists,[130] Mormons,[131] Jehovah's Witnesses,[132] and World Mission Society Church of God.