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A.C.N - Aid to the Church in Need Italian Office |
Religious Freedom in
the Majority Islamic Countries |
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Brunei Population:
308,000
Islam is the state religion, but the constitution affirms that all other religions should be allowed to practise in peace and harmony by those who profess them. These guarantees have been whittled away with time, however. The government has forbidden preaching and conversion; it has at times refused visas to priests and bishops, banned the importation of religious material and refused to grant permission for the construction of churches and temples. In 1991, a handful of Christians were expelled and the celebration of Christmas was forbidden. A correspondence in the press agency Asia News (June / July 1996) details some aspects of the religious history of the Catholics here. The sultanate formed part ecclesiastically of the diocese of Miri in the state of Sarawak. The first Catholic school goes back to 1929. In 1991, the government refused to extend the visas of three Catholic missionaries - the only one left there was Father Cornelius Sim, the first priest native to Brunei, who now has to minister to 8,000 Catholic faithful spread over three parishes. In 1992, Father Ivan Fang was sent there. In 1996, the Bruneian Catholics made up 1.16% of the total population, with three parishes and two other pastoral centres. At the end of 1997, the Holy Father established in Brunei an independent diocese, separate from that of Miri, nominating Father Cornelius Sim as apostolic prefect. Out of the approximately 300,000 inhabitants some 10 per cent are Christians, and in addition there are some 27,000 Filipino Catholic immigrants living in the country. |
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