Christianity in Nepal

Christianity is, according to the 2011 census, the fifth most practiced religion in Nepal, with 375,699 adherents, or 1.4% of the population. Many informed observers have estimated that there are at least 1 million Nepali Christians. According to some Christian groups, there may be as many as 3 million Christians in Nepal, constituting up to 10% of the country's population. A report by Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary identified the Nepali church the fastest growing in the world. The vast majority of Nepali Christians are evangelical Protestants (if evangelical is defined broadly to include charismatics and Pentecostals); there is also a small Catholic population of roughly 10,000. The first Christian mission to Nepal was established in 1715 by Catholic Capuchin friars, who worked in the Kathmandu Valley. The Capuchins were expelled following Nepal's unification in 1768-9, and Christian groups were officially banned from the country for the next two centuries. 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. It was only after the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1990, and the relaxation of restrictions on conversion, that the Nepali church began to grow rapidly, but attempts to convert others remain illegal . The expansion of Christianity is a controversial subject in Nepal, and Nepali Christians have been subject to sporadic violence and widespread social exclusion. It is frequently reported in Nepali media and political discourse that missionaries offer the poor material incentives to convert, like what’s happening in India, but research has indicated that most Nepali Christians convert for reasons other than contact with missionaries. Nepal's constitution-writing process of 2006–15, and the 2007 designation of the country as a secular state, intensified controversies surrounding Christianity. The constitution of 2015 re-affirmed secularism but also prohibited proselytism and 'disturbing the religion of other people'.