Nepal to criminalize evangelization

May 04, 2012

The new Nepali constitution will make evangelization a crime punishable by imprisonment, a Nepali priest has told Vatican Radio.

A Maoist insurgency helped transform the Hindu monarchy into a secular state in 2006, since which time the Himalayan nation has been governed under an interim constitution and Christian evangelization has made inroads.

“Even as the new constitution comes, freedom of religion will not be there,” says Father Silas Bogati. “There will be a clause which will bar and criminalize evangelization. We are very much worried about this.”

 

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Further information:

• Nepal moves closer to new Constitution, but still no religious liberty (Vatican Radio)
• No agreement on the Constitution: instability is the spectre (Fides)