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The Catholic Church in Bhutan
Bhutan has no public Catholic temples: its small community meets in private and is pastoral to the Indian diocese of Darjeeling. In Thimphu, the capital, today, Father Kinley Tshering, Jesuit, the first and only Bhutanese Catholic priest, serves the faithful.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- In 1627 the Portuguese Jesuits Cacella and Cabral were the first Westerners to travel Bhutan; the founder of the kingdom welcomed them in his court, gave them a room of the Cheri monastery as a chapel and offered them land in Paro for a church.
- In 1963 the Prime Minister invited the Jesuits of Darjeeling to develop the education of the country; Father William Mackey, a pioneer of modern Bhutanese teaching, lived there until his death in 1995.
- On October 23, 1995, Father Kinley Tshering was ordained, whose vocation matured after a providential encounter with Mother Teresa of Calcutta; today it is fully dedicated to Bhutan.
- The community celebrates the Eucharist in private meetings under the care of Darjeeling: a Church hidden and faithful in the heart of the Himalayas.
Católicos de Bután
The Catholic faith in Bhutan is a small and persistent seed: without public churches, sustained by domestic prayer, the Jesuit memory of 1627 and the silent ministry of its only native priest.
"Holy Mary, Mother of the Church, support the faithful of Bhutan.
Is the advocation of the Virgin Mary of your people missing?
Si no encuentras la advocación mariana de tu ciudad o pueblo, cuéntanosla: la investigaremos para ubicarla y darla a conocer en este mapa del amor de la Madre por el mundo.
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