Christianity in Arunachal Pradesh

Christianity is the largest religion in the Northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China. According to the census of 2011 Christians constitute 30.26% of the state's population.[1] The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the state with around 180,000 adherents.[2] The Arunachal Baptist Church Council is the second largest denomination with 150,000 baptized members in about 1,200 churches[3] and Arunachal Pradesh Christian Revival Church Council (APCRCC) which was started in 1987 at Naharlagun also growing fast.

The state belongs to the area of the diocese of North East India of the Church of North India.[4] The Roman Catholic Diocese of Itanagar and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Miao have their seat in the state. The state is an area of rapid growth of Roman Catholicism in recent years.[5]

Among the Christians in the state there is a literacy rate higher than the rate in the state population at large.[6]

Religion in Arunachal Pradesh[1]
religion percent
Christianity
 
 30.2%
Hinduism
 
 29.4%
Others (mostly Donyi-Polo)
 
 26.2%
Buddhism
 
 11.7%
Islam
 
 1.9%
Sikhism
 
 0.1%
Jainism
 
 0.1%

Christian missionary activity is not allowed in Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal has prohibited bribery or coercion for conversion since 1978, but there is no record of coerced conversions and no one has been brought to trial under the law.[7]

  1. ^ a b "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". Censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  2. ^ Diocese [1] Itanagar [2] Miao
  3. ^ https://abccindia.org/sites/all/libraries/pdf.js/web/viewer.html?file=/sites/www.abccindia.org/files/MemberbodiesasonDec2016.pdf ABCCStatistics2016
  4. ^ "The Diocess - The Church Of North India". Cnisynod.org. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Aid to the Church in Need: Building the Faith, Chapel by Chapel". Churchinneed.org. 1 July 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Welcome to Frontline : Vol. 29 :: No. 16". Hinduonnet.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  7. ^ Georg Evers (November 2008). "India's Christians Taken Aim at by Radical Hindus". Con-spiration.de. Retrieved 26 March 2013. For in several Indian federal states - in 1978 in Arunachal Pradesh, in 2003 in Gujarat, in 2006 in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and in 2007 in Himachal Pradesh - bills were passed which make conversions that happened by force or by material benefits punishable. So far, however, not a single case has been brought before the courts.