Christianity in Laos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christianity is a minority religion in Laos. There has been imprisonment of persons due to their Christian faith in 2006. There are three recognized Churches in Laos: the Lao Evangelical Church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
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[edit] Protestantism
Approximately 400 Protestant congregations conduct services throughout the country for a community that has grown rapidly in the past decade. Church officials estimate Protestants to number as many as 100,000.
Many Protestants are members of ethnic Mon-Khmer groups, especially the Khmu in the north and the Brou in the central provinces. Numbers of Protestants also have expanded rapidly in the Hmong and Yao communities. In urban areas, Protestantism has attracted many lowland Lao followers. Most Protestants are concentrated in Vientiane Municipality, in the provinces of Vientiane, Sayaboury, Luang Prabang, Xieng Khouang, Bolikhamsai, Savannakhet, Champassak, and Attapeu, as well as in the former Saisomboun Special Zone, but smaller congregations are located throughout the country.
The LFNC officially recognizes only two Protestant groups - the LEC and the Seventh-day Adventist Church - and requires all non-Catholic Christian groups to operate under one of these organizations.
Seventh-day Adventists number slightly more than 1,000 country-wide, with congregations in Vientiane Municipality as well as Bokeo, Bolikhamsai, Champassak, Luang Prabang, and Xieng Khouang provinces.
Christian denominations that have some following in the country, but which are not recognized by the Government, include the Methodists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Church of Christ, Assemblies of God, Lutherans, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and Baptists. Official membership numbers are not available.
All approved Christian religious groups own properties in Vientiane Municipality, although some of their properties are not officially recognized by the Government. In addition, the Protestant LEC maintains properties in the cities of Savannakhet and Pakse. Three informal churches, one for English-speakers, one for Korean-speakers, and one for Chinese-speakers, serve Vientiane's foreign Protestant community.
In 2005, a Protestant church in Savannakhet Province was closed down by the government. There has been persecution for years. Among the Hmong of Laos 20 % were Christians in 1998.
Protestants constitute 2% of the population along with Roman Catholics. With around 300 congregations, Protestantism has grown rapidly in the last decade.[1]
In 1975 the communist government expelled all foreign missionaries.[2]
There have been instances of the Laotian government attempting to make Christians renounce their faith, and have several times closed down Christian churches.[3] The government has also been known to detain clergy for their religious activities.[4] There are two known religious prisoners in Laos, both members of the Lao Evangelical Church. In 2005, a church in Savannakhet Province was closed down by the government.[1]
Members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Laos are mainly Chinese and Meos. In 2006 it had four churches and approximately 900 members.[5]
[edit] Catholicism
The Roman Catholic Church is officially recognized by the LFNC.[6] There are approximately 45,000 Catholics, many of whom are ethnic Vietnamese, concentrated in major urban centers and surrounding areas along the Mekong River in the central and southern regions of the country.[6] The Catholic Church has an established presence in five of the most populous central and southern provinces, and Catholics are able to worship openly.[6] The Catholic Church's activities are more circumscribed in the north.[6] There are four bishops, two located in Vientiane and others located in the cities of Thakhek and Pakse.[6] One of the two bishops resident in Vientiane oversees the Vientiane Diocese and is responsible for the central part of the country.[6] The second bishop resident in Vientiane is the Bishop of Luang Prabang.[6] He is assigned to the northern part of the country, but while the Government did not permit him to take up his post, it did permit him to travel to visit church congregations in the north.[6] The church's property in Luang Prabang was seized after 1975, and there is no longer a parsonage in that city.[6] An informal Catholic training center in Thakhek prepared a small number of priests to serve the Catholic community.[6] Several foreign nuns temporarily serve in the Vientiane diocese.[6]
There are no dioceses in the country, but it is divided into four Apostolic Vicariates: the Vicariate Apostolic of Luang Prabang, the Vicariate Apostolic of Paksé, the Vicariate Apostolic of Savannakhet, and the Vicariate Apostolic of Vientiane.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. US State Department (September, 2004). Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ Violence against Christians in Vientiane and Luang Phrabang. AsiaNews.it (September 7th, 2004). Retrieved on 2006-07-06.
- ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2002. US State Department (October 7th, 2002). Retrieved on 2006-07-06.
- ^ Evangelical clergyman killed in Laos. AsiaNews.it (January 2nd, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-07-06.
- ^ http://www.adventistdirectory.org/view_AdmField.asp?EntityID=13090, accessed 2007-05-09
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Laos: International Religious Freedom Report 2007. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Catholic-Hierarchy.org
