In the Kathmandu Valley, at Dhobighat, in the district of Patan-Lalitpur, the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the seat of the apostolic vicariate of Nepal. It is a cathedral in the canonical sense, not merely by journalistic convention. It was dedicated on 15 August 1995 by Cardinal Jozef Tomko, then prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, though that date rests on a single encyclopaedic source not fully cross-checked. Neither an architect nor a date of construction distinct from the dedication is documented. The Catholic jurisdiction in Nepal was erected as a mission sui iuris on 7 October 1983, raised to an apostolic prefecture on 8 November 1996, and finally to an apostolic vicariate on 10 February 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI. He appointed as first apostolic vicar and first Nepali bishop Anthony Francis Sharma, a Jesuit, who had led the mission since 1984. His successor Paul Simick governed the vicariate from 2014 to 2024. The see has been vacant since 9 November 2024, and is held today by an apostolic administrator, Father Silas Krishna Bogati, since January 2025. Nepal was a Hindu monarchy for more than two centuries. It became a federal republic on 28 May 2008 and declared itself constitutionally a secular state in the constitution of 2015. Even so, the new national penal code of 2017, in force from 17 August 2018, makes religious conversion a crime under article 158, along with «inducing» anyone to leave a religion practised «from time immemorial». The penalties run to five years in prison and fines of up to fifty thousand Nepali rupees, with expulsion for foreign citizens convicted. According to the Nepal Christian Society, quoted by UCA News but not independently verified by this newsroom, more than twenty cases of persecution of Christians have been recorded since the rule came into force. Catholics in Nepal are estimated, on Vatican-derived statistics for 2022, at about eight thousand one hundred and twenty-five people. On 23 May 2009, the day the Nepali parliament elected the prime minister, a bomb placed under a bench exploded during Mass in this cathedral, killing three people and wounding thirteen. The Gorkha earthquake of 25 April 2015 caused only slight damage to the building, according to the testimony of a priest quoted in the American Catholic press, while several Protestant churches in the valley were badly damaged or destroyed; the cathedral then gave shelter to the displaced. Diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Nepal go back to 10 September 1983. No papal visit is recorded.
About the Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Dhobighat in the Kathmandu Valley, is the seat of the Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal, dedicated on 15 August 1995 by Cardinal Jozef Tomko. No architect or distinct construction date is documented in available sources.
Key facts
- 7 October 1983: Mission sui iuris of Nepal erected, entrusted to the Jesuits.
- 15 August 1995: cathedral dedicated by Cardinal Jozef Tomko.
- 10 February 2007: elevated to Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal by Pope Benedict XVI.
- 23 May 2009: a bomb exploded under a pew during Mass, killing 3 and wounding 13.
- 17 August 2018: Nepal’s new penal code criminalizes religious conversion, up to 5 years’ imprisonment.
- Catholics in Nepal number roughly 8,125 as of 2022, in a nation of over 33 million.
History
Dedicated in 1995 within a Jesuit-run missionary jurisdiction erected just twelve years earlier, the cathedral became, on 23 May 2009, the site of a bomb attack during Mass that killed three people and wounded thirteen, on the same day Nepal’s parliament elected a prime minister. Nepal’s 2015 transition to a constitutionally secular republic did not extend to full freedom to proselytize: a 2017 penal code criminalizing religious conversion, in force since 2018, now carries prison terms for evangelizing among Nepal’s small Christian minority, a serving Apostolic Vicariate whose current leadership post has stood vacant since a 2024 transfer.
What you see
A red-brick church rises with twin octagonal brick bell towers, each topped with a cross, flanking a gabled facade with an arched triple window set beneath a pediment, its tiled roofs and forecourt set among the concrete apartment blocks and palm trees of the Kathmandu Valley.
Practical information
- Opening hours: generally open daily outside services; check current hours before visiting.
- Address: Dhobighat, Patan (Lalitpur), Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.
Getting there
The cathedral stands in the Dhobighat neighborhood of Patan (Lalitpur), part of the greater Kathmandu Valley. GPS: 27°40′22″N, 85°18′24″E.
Nearby
- Patan Durbar Square — the historic royal square of Lalitpur, a short distance from the cathedral.
Sources
- Wikipedia — “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral, Kathmandu,” “Catholic Church in Nepal,” “Holy See–Nepal relations”
- GCatholic.org and Catholic-Hierarchy.org — Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal records.
- Nepal’s National Penal (Code) Act, 2074 (2017), Section 158.
- UCA News — coverage of religious-conversion prosecutions in Nepal.
- Christianity Today — coverage of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake’s impact on Nepal’s Christian community.
- Nepal Ministry of Foreign Affairs — Holy See diplomatic relations record.
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