First Nepalese bishop ordained

[Dale_M]

Nepal has finally gotten a bishop!

The Catholic faith came to Nepal in 1951 thanks to the invitation of the king to some priests to take scholastic education in hand. Thus the schools of St Francis Xavier and Saint Mary and others were set up, and are still held to be among the country’s best education institutions. But until 1991 conversion from the Hindu to the Christian faith was punishable by up to six years in prison. Until April 2006, Christians were submitted to constant persecution. With the deposition of King Gyanendra in April and the declaration of Nepal as a secular state in May 2006, 238 years of persecution under Hindu theocracy came to an end. On 10 February 2007, Pope Benedict XVI elevated the country to the rank of Vicariate with a surface area of 147,000 square km (half the size of Italy), a step that precedes the creation of a diocese, and appointed Fr Sharma as bishop.

The episcopal ordination was welcomed with joy by citizens of all faiths. Pawan Mahara, a Hindu who studied in a Christian school, told AsiaNews that the appointment of the bishop underscored the religious freedom now enjoyed by the country and was a “help from Pope Benedict XVI to consolidate its secular status.”

He held that Christians will now be able to overcome the fear “of being accused of making use of schools and health centres to carry out conversions” and they “will be able to play an important role in the struggle against illiteracy and disease, especially in backwards rural areas.”

asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=9194&size=A

I wonder how long it will take for Kathmandu to become a diocese?

 

[Digitonomy]

Pawan Mahara… told AsiaNews that the appointment of the bishop underscored the religious freedom now enjoyed by the country and was a “help from Pope Benedict XVI to consolidate its secular status.”

Does that make Benedict a champion of secularism?

That’s fascinating. I didn’t realize there was such discrimination against Catholics in Nepal before, nor did I expect Catholics would benefit from the regicide there a few years ago.

 

[rien]

What is telling is that of 1 million Christians only 7000 are Catholic. Seems like the persecutions led to a flowering of fundamentalist/evangelical Christianity and not Catholicism.

Anyone know how the evangelicals manged to grow so much and, at 7000, the Catholics not at all it would seem.

To quote from the article:

“Emmanuel John, a local Catholic, said the appointment “is a divine blessing for Catholics of Nepal”. He estimated that out of 28 million residents, there are one million Christians and around 7,000 Catholics.”

Those numbers are troubling to say the least.

 

[fin]

great news