ICC Note:

Christianity in the mountainous nation of Nepal is continuing to grow rapidly despite the tension and persecution the religion faces from local Hindu nationalist groups. When Nepal finally passed its new constitution last year, the state declared itself to be secular. While this declaration was a win for religious freedom, the constitution went on to make converting to another religion or causing another person to convert to another religion illegal. Radical Hindu nationalists still hold some power in Nepal and actively use the country’s government structures to under-report the number of Christians and attempt to hold back the growing community. Despite this, Christianity is still growing.  

5/17/2016 Nepal (Christian Daily) – Religious tension in Nepal is on the rise, but Christianity is unexpectedly also growing at a rapid rate in the country despite the situation.

In a recent entry on Breakpoint, Eric Metaxas highlights the fast growth of the populations of Christians in Nepal. While there were virtually no Christians in the country in 1951, the census registered 458 after 10 years and 102,000 after forty years. In 2011, that number already hit 375,000.

What is more interesting is that the International Institute for Religious Freedom reported that Nepalese Christian leaders believe there are actually almost 2.3 million Christians in Nepal. While the government claims that Christians presently constitute only 1.5 of the population, it could really be 10 percent, if the Nepalese Christian leaders’ claims are accurate.

Metaxas suggested that the discrepancy in the figures reported may be due to the Nepalese Hindu activists’ manipulation of census data. Apparently, they are not happy with the mass conversion of the citizens to Christianity.

Nepal’s interim constitution outlaws evangelism and prohibits a person from either converting to another religion or from doing anything to disturb a person’s religion. Still, a lot of Nepalese are dropping their Hindu or Buddhist beliefs to embrace Christianity.

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