In 2015, Christians in Laos numbered 200,000 to 210,000, with 50,000–60,000 thousand for Catholics and 150,000 for Protestants, based on rough estimates conducted by LFND.[1] In 2021, estimates showed that there were 100,000 Catholics, 200,000 evangelicals, 4,700 Methodists and 2,500 Seventh-day Adventists.[2]
There are three recognised Churches in Laos: the Catholic Church, the Lao Evangelical Church, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Laotian government repressed all activities of religion from 1975 to 1989.[3] Religious practice resumed to be permitted after the Party held a congress and released two new doctrines called as chintanakan mai or new thinking and kanpianpeng mai or renovation.[3][4] Laotian religious freedom began increasing in 2000s, when the government started opening the dialogue up with United Nations and numerous organisations.[3]
Catholicism
Sacred Heart Catholic Church (pro-cathedral, built 1928), Vientiane.Catholic Training Center in Thakhek.
The Catholic Church is officially recognized by the government.[2] In 2007 many Catholics were ethnic Vietnamese, concentrated in major urban centers and surrounding areas along the Mekong River in the central and southern regions of the country; the Catholic Church had an established presence in five of the most populous central and southern provinces, and Catholics are able to worship openly. Initially brought by Italian missionaries in seventeenth century but was left dormant for sometimes, Catholic missions entered Laos again when Laos was a French colony in late nineteenth century,[5] especially after 1893 when French colonial government decided to protect Catholic missionaries across Laos.[3]
There are 100,000 Catholics in Laos in 2022,[2] rising from 50,000 - 60,000 Laotian Catholics in 2015.[1]
In 2007 many Catholics were ethnic Vietnamese, concentrated in major urban centers and surrounding areas along the Mekong River in the central and southern regions of the country; the Catholic Church had 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 were more circumscribed in the north, where there were 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 oversaw the Vientiane Diocese and was responsible for the central part of the country, while the second bishop resident in Vientiane was the Bishop of Luang Prabang - he was 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 while several foreign nuns temporarily serve in the Vientiane diocese.[6]
Approximately 400 Protestant congregations conduct services throughout the country for a community that has grown rapidly in the past decade. Rough estimate Protestants to number as many as 150,000.[1] Other estimates put the figures at over 200,000 in 2021.[2]
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 have also expanded rapidly in the Hmong and Yao communities. In urban areas, Protestantism has many lowland Lao followers. Most Protestants are concentrated in Vientiane Municipality, in the provinces of Vientiane, Sainyabuli, Luang Prabang, Xiangkhouang, Bolikhamsai, Savannakhet, Champassak, and Attapeu, as well as in the former Xaisomboun Special Zone, but smaller congregations are located throughout the country.
The LFND 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.[2] In 2021, estimates showed that the LEC had 200,00 members;[2] in the same year, Seventh-day Adventists numbered slightly more than 2,500 country-wide with congregations in Vientiane Municipality as well as Bokeo, Bolikhamsai, Champassak, Luang Prabang, and Xieng Khouang provinces. Members are mainly Chinese and Meos. At the end of 30 June 2019 it had four churches.[8]
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. Among the Hmong of Laos 20% were Christians in 1998. With around 300 congregations, Protestantism grew rapidly between 1995 and 2005.[9]
Freedom of religion
According to the US government and other agencies there have been instances of the Laotian government attempting to make Christians renounce their faith, and have several times closed down Christian churches.[10] They also say that there are two religious prisoners in Laos, both members of the Lao Evangelical Church, and that in 2005, a church in Savannakhet Province was closed down by the government.[9]
In 2023, the country was scored 1 out of 4 for religious freedom;[11] it was noted that the Lao People's Revolutionary Party controls clergy training and supervision of Buddhist temples. There have been several recent cases of Christians being briefly detained for unauthorized religious activities.
Laos is a country in and the only landlocked nation in mainland Southeast Asia, northeast of Thailand and west of Vietnam. It covers approximately 236,800 square kilometers in the center of the Southeast Asian peninsula and it is surrounded by Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
This article concerns the systems of transportation in Laos. Laos is a country in Asia, which possesses a number of modern transportation systems, including several highways and a number of airports. As a landlocked country, Laos possesses no ports or harbours on the sea, and the difficulty of navigation on the Mekong means that this is also not a significant transport route.
The Lao Evangelical Church (LEC) is the largest registered Christian church in Laos.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Pakse is a Latin rite missionary territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Laos. As an apostolic vicariate, it is a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, entitled to a titular bishop. It covers southern Laos.
Protestantism in Laos make up about 80% of the Christian population of the country in 2020.
The French protectorate of Laos was a French protectorate in Southeast Asia of what is today Laos between 1893 and 1953—with a brief interregnum as a Japanese puppet state in 1945—which constituted part of French Indochina. It was established over the Siamese vassal, the Kingdom of Luang Phrabang, following the Franco-Siamese crisis of 1893. It was integrated into French Indochina and in the following years further Siamese vassals, the Principality of Phuan and Kingdom of Champasak, were annexed into it in 1899 and 1904, respectively.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Savannakhet is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Laos. As an apostolic vicariate, it is a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, entitled to a titular bishop. It is located in central Laos.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Luang Prabang is a Latin Rite jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Laos. As an apostolic vicariate, it is a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, entitled to a titular bishop. It is located in northern Laos.
The Catholic Church in Laos is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. The Catholic Church is officially recognized by the government.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Vientiane is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church located in northern Laos.
Theravada Buddhism is the largest religion in Laos.
The Constitution of Laos provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricted this right in practice. Some government officials committed abuses of citizens' religious freedom.
The Baháʼí Faith in Laos begins after a brief mention by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in 1916 and the first Baháʼí enters Laos in about 1955. The first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly is known to be first elected by 1958 in Vientiane and eventually Laos' own National Spiritual Assembly is first elected in 1967. The current community is approximately eight thousand adherents and four centers: Vientiane, Vientiane Province, Kaysone Phomvihane, Pakxe and smaller populations in other provinces. While well established and able to function as communities in these cities, Baháʼís have a harder time in other provinces and cannot print their own religious materials. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated almost 14000 Baháʼís in 2005.
The Prime Minister's Cup is an annual football competition in Laos, first established in 2003 to provide a platform for teams outside of Vientiane to compete against those in the Lao League In addition to encouraging the development of football across Laos, the cup is also intended to encourage regional players to take their place in the national team and to celebrate the National Day of Laos on December 2.
Royal Air Lao was the national air carrier of the Kingdom of Laos that operated from 1962 to 1974.
Beginning in 1955, the Kingdom of Laos was divided into five Military Regions (MR), roughly corresponding to the areas of the country's 13 provinces. The Military Regions were necessitated by the poor lines of communication within the country. The Military Districts were the basis of a culture of warlordism in the Royal Lao Armed Forces (FAR) high command, with most MR Commanders running their zones like private fiefdoms.
The Martyrs of Laos are seventeen Catholic priests and professed religious as well as one lay young man venerated as martyrs killed in Laos between 1954 and 1970 of the First and Second Indochina Wars during a period of anti-religious sentiment under the Pathet Lao Theravada Buddhist-communist political movement.
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