Nepal’s Hindus, Buddhists join procession ending Year of Faith

November 26, 2013 - In Nepal, thousands of Catholics, Hindus and Buddhists took part in a procession on Saturday, organized by the Catholic Church in Kathmandu to mark the closing of the Year of Faith. Participants, who took time off work, showed "great devotion", local sources said, at a time of great tension due to the recent elections to the Constituent Assembly. Priests, religious, lay people and non-Christians walked from St Mary of the Assumption School to the church, reciting the Rosary and hymns, carrying candles, images of Jesus with passages from the Bible. For the occasion, the local church used an open car that carried the diocesan vicar, Fr Pius Perumana, dressed in solemn garments, at the helm of the procession. Catholics from Kathmandu but also Godavari and Lubhu Baniyatar attended the celebration, walking in the procession with flags and banners. After the fall of the monarchy in 2006, Nepal saw a greater opening to religions other than Hinduism. After Maoists came to power (2008), several Hindu extremist groups attacked religious minorities. The most serious was carried out against Kathmandu's Assumption Cathedral on 23 May 2009, which left two people dead. Although proselytising is banned, the government made Christmas a national holiday in 2012 to boost tourism. Christians were allowed to show their sacred images and ornaments in stores and outside of churches and homes and to organize processions. This visibility has prompted many non-Christians to seek baptism. Currently, there are 10,000 Catholics in Nepal, 4,000 more than in 2006, the year the state became secular. (Source: Asianews)