CHRISTIANS are not allowed to hold public church services in the remote Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, according to the bishop whose diocesan territory includes the tiny nation.
In addition, priests are routinely denied permits to enter the country, said Bishop Stephen Lepcha of Darjeeling, India.
The bishop said that Buddhism is Bhutan’s state religion and any sort of proselytising by other religions is prohibited.
Migrant Christians from India and Nepal “enjoyed freedom to hold church services in public” until a few years ago, he said. Since then, “all public church services have been banned, and any breach of that ban invites incarceration.”