In the 1990s, Christianity had about 600,000 adherents, mainly Roman Catholic, and their numbers were growing rapidly. The Christian faith was brought to Bengal by the Portuguese missionaries in the early sixteenth century. The oldest church, situated in the city of Dhaka, dates back to 1677. There are no less than 225 churches in the country.The number of native-born Christians in Bangladesh is about half a million. About half of them are tribal. The religious leadership is entirely in the hands of the local people. They are well integrated into the mainstream of the society. For centuries they have lived together in peace and harmony with the people of other religions.