For the first time ever, the formerly Hindu country of Nepal will mark Christmas as a formal holiday. According to the country’s first and only bishop, churches that 20 years ago could not operate publicly are anticipating an influx of Christians and non-Christians at their services, reports Abigail Frymann, in The Tablet.
“The public holiday gives a national recognition to our presence in the land, an equal status as citizens of the country and, of course, makes us very happy,” said Bishop Anthony Sharma of Nepal.
“More and more non-Christian friends visit our own Catholic church and other Christian services. Christmas has become almost similar to the Hindu feast of Deepawali. They seem to feel quite at home with it. Of course, such was not the case prior to 1990. There was no open or public celebration and no non-Christian would dare join the services.”
Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is bordered by China to the north and by India to the south, east and west. The Himalaya mountain range runs across Nepal's northern and western parts, and eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Everest, lie within its borders.
The country was an absolute monarchy until 1990, and the world’s only Hindu kingdom. It was a crime to possess a bible.
In 1990 a multiparty parliament was established. Since then, Christians have been allowed to take a day’s paid leave on Christmas day.
This year, however, is the first year when the feast will be marked as a formal holiday.
In 2007 Nepal became a Federal Democratic Republic. The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly officially implemented that declaration on May 28, this year.
It is now a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi-religious country. Hinduism is practised by a large majority of the people, but the country also has a strong Buddhist tradition.
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(Source: CIN)