Vatican appoints first Bishop of Nepal

The Vatican has appointed Nepal's first Bishop, elevating the Apostolic Prefecture of Nepal to the rank of apostolic vicariate.

The appointment of Father Anthony Sharma, 69, as the first apostolic vicar of Nepal was announced by the Vatican Press Office. Fr. Sharma is currently the apostolic prefect of Nepal.

Nepal's capital Kathmandu will be the headquarters of the apostolic vicariate.

Anthony Sharma was born in Katmandu in 1937. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1956 and was ordained a priest in 1968. He spent years in India, teaching in the area of Darjeeling, and he was rector of St. Joseph's College.

He was appointed ecclesiastical superior of Nepal in 1984.

When Pope John Paul II elevated the "sui iuris" mission of Nepal to the rank of apostolic prefecture, Father Sharma became its first apostolic prefect.

"The announcement is with reference to a letter from the nuncio (based in New Delhi) stating that Nepal has been raised to the status of vicariate, and that within three months I am to be consecrated bishop," Bishop–elect Sharma told UCA News just before the announcements were read out in church.

"If a very young man had been appointed instead, you would have had to see the same person for decades. Personally I had wished to retire, but now I can only officially do so after five years – as bishop," quipped the bishop–elect. Canon law requires bishops to request retirement when they turn 75.

Bishop–elect Sharma was the first ethnic Nepalese to be ordained a Jesuit priest, when he was 30. He was born in Kathmandu of Hindu parents, who remained Hindus until their death.

The modern Catholic presence in Nepal began in the 1950s, when Jesuits from India established a school in Kathmandu. In October 1983, Pope John Paul II separated the territory of Nepal from Patna Diocese in India to create the missio sui iuris. He appointed Bishop–elect Sharma the mission's first ecclesiastical superior six months later. In 1997, the late pope elevated the mission to an apostolic prefecture and its head to apostolic prefect. The elevation to a vicariate, headed by a bishop, reflects continued organizational growth in the local church.

According to the Vatican, the new apostolic vicariate of Nepal has 6,681 Catholics. Its five parishes, two subparishes, six mission stations and 22 substations are served by 11 diocesan and 40 religious priests. There are five major seminarians and 112 women religious.

In addition, the Church has 44 educational and 16 charitable institutions.

According to the 2005–2006 Catholic Directory for Nepal, Christians number approximately 1 million, about 7,500 of them Catholics, in a population of 28 million. Many of Nepal's Catholics live in the eastern part of the country, where three parishes were set up in 1999. When the late Pope John Paul II took office in 1978, there were fewer than 2,000 Catholics.

Church growth accelerated after the establishment of religious freedom in a new constitution Nepal adopted in 1991, six years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and the Holy See.