The atheist dictatorship Laos persuad Christians and many other religious people. It has the 18th rung at the index of Open Doors. There are only three recognized churches: The Catholic, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Laos Evangelical Church. Christians of other confessions can be arrested. The government supports the millitant heravada-buddhists, who persecute Christians. If a animist or a buddhist converts to the Christianity, local officials frequently persecute new Christians.