Religion in Mexico

Religion in Mexico (2010 est.)

  Roman Catholicism (82.7%)

  Other Christian (Protestant, Pentecostal, Jehovah's witnesses, evangelical Christians, etc) (8%)

  Irreligious (4.7%)

  Unspecified (2.7%)

  Others (Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, etc) (1.9%)

Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Zamora, Michoacán.

Catholic Christianity is the dominant religion in Mexico, representing about 82.7% of the total population as of 2010. In recent decades the number of Catholics has been declining, due to the growth of other Christian denominations – especially various Protestant churches and Mormonism – which now constitute 8% of the population, and non-Christian religions (1.9%). Conversion to non-Catholic denominations has been considerably slower than in Central America, and central Mexico remains one of the most Catholic areas in the world.

An estimated 2 to 5 million Mexicans (~2% to ~4.5%) adhere to the veneration of Santa Muerte, and most of them see themselves as members of the Catholic Church, even though the Vatican condemns this practice. Movements of return and revival of the indigenous Mesoamerican religions (Mexicayotl, Toltecayotl) have also appeared in recent decades. Buddhism and Islam have both made limited inroads, through immigration and conversion.

Religion and the state

The Mexican Constitution of 1917 imposed limitations on the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico and sometimes codified state intrusion into religious matters. The government does not provide financial contributions to the religious institutions, nor does the Roman Catholic Church participate in public education. Christmas is a national holiday and every year during Easter and Christmas all schools in Mexico, public and private, send their students on vacation.

In a major reversal of the Mexican state's restrictions on religion, the constitution was amended in 1992 lifting almost all restrictions on the religions, including granting all religious groups legal status, conceding them limited property, and lifting restrictions on the number of priests in the country. Until recently, priests did not have the right to vote, and even now they cannot be elected to public office.

Abrahamic religions

Christianity

Historically the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico is the oldest established church, established in the early sixteenth century. At independence, the Roman Catholic Church kept its status as the only permissible church in Mexico. In the mid-nineteenth century, Mexican liberals curtailed the exclusive standing of the church, and Protestant missionaries, mainly from the United States, legally evangelized in Mexico. Other Christian denominations have grown in Mexico, dating from the twentieth century. With the growth of immigration from the Middle East, Eastern Catholic churches were established. Evangelical Protestant churches have expanded their reach significantly from the late twentieth century.

Roman Catholicism

Further information: Roman Catholicism in Mexico

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Catholic church of Regina Coeli in Mexico City.

Roman Catholics are 82.7% of the total population, down from 96% in 1970. The number of Mexican Catholics has fallen by 5% in the first decade of the 21st century and in the south-east Catholics make up less than two-thirds of the population. In absolute terms, Mexico has the world's second largest number of Catholics, surpassed only by Brazil.

Mexicans are at least nominally Catholic, some combine or syncretize Catholic practices with native traditions. In the Yucatán Peninsula, some Mayan people still practice the traditional beliefs of their ancestors, without being syncretized with Christianity.The same happens with the Wixarika people of Jalisco and Nayarit.

There are major festivities in Mexico celebrating the Christian holidays of Epiphany (6 January) (Día de los Reyes Magos), All Saints' day (1 November), All Souls' day or Day of the Dead (2 November)(Día de los fieles difuntos), and the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (12 December). These are not public holidays in Mexico. Christmas is celebrated as a religious and public holiday.

Eastern Catholicism in Mexico

There are also separate jurisdictions for specific Eastern particular churches within the Catholic Church in Mexico:

• the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Nuestra Señora de los Mártires del Libano in Mexico
• the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Nuestra Señora del Paraíso in Mexico City
• the Armenian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Latin America and Mexico

Protestantism

Further information: Protestantism in Mexico

About 11% of the population (6,160,000 people over the age of 5, according to the 2000 census, including Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons who are usually considered to be non-Protestant and part of Restorationism or individual Christian branches) are Protestant, of whom Pentecostals and Charismatics (called Neo-Pentecostals in the census), are the largest group. The Anglican Communion is represented by the Anglican Church of Mexico.

Protestantism is strongest where the Catholic Church and the Mexican state have little presence, and accounts for over 10% of the population in the four states that border heavily-Protestant Guatemala: Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, and Tabasco. It is also sizable in the Mexican states that border the U.S. State of Texas.

Protestantism is also on the rise as it offers a less legalistic and hierarchical version of Christianity.

Orthodoxy

A service at the Catedral Ortodoxa de San Jorge in Colonia Roma, Mexico City. Part of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, it is under the auspices of Archbishop Antonio Chedraoui (es).

There are some Mexicans practicing Eastern Orthodoxy in Mexico, mainly foreign-born people.

Seventh-day Adventist

There are also a number of Seventh-day Adventists (488,946 people).

Jehovah's Witnesses

The 2000 national census counted more than one million Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the Jehovah's Witnesses official figures for 2014 there were over 800,000 members involved in preaching.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Main article: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico

The first LDS missionaries in Mexico arrived in 1875 (although the original Mormons came to Mexico in the 1840s in Utah, when it was still a Mexican territory). In 1885, 400 Mormon colonists moved to Mexico. In 1993 the Mexican government formally registered the LDS Church. This allowed the church to own property in Mexico.

The 2010 Census reported 314,932 Mormons. As of 2015, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) claims 1,368,475 members, 231 stakes, 1,998 congregations, and 12 temples in Mexico.

La Luz del Mundo

La Luz del Mundo is a Charismatic Christian denomination with international headquarters in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Its flagship church in Guadalajara is said to be the largest non-Catholic house of worship in Latin America.

Judaism

Main article: Judaism in Mexico

File:Sinagoga Historica.jpg

The interior of the Sinagoga Histórica Justo Sierra 71 located in the Historic Center of Mexico City.

The presence of Jews in Mexico dates back to 1521, when Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs, accompanied by several Conversos. According to the last national census by the INEGI, there are now more than 67,000 Mexican Jews, the near totality of which (around 95%) live in the Greater Mexico City area.

Bahá'í Faith

Main article: Bahá'í Faith in Mexico

The Bahá'í Faith in Mexico begins with visits of Bahá'ís before 1916. In 1919 letters from the head of the religion, `Abdu'l-Bahá, were published mentioning Mexico as one of the places Bahá'ís should take the religion to. Following further pioneers moving there and making contacts the first Mexican to join the religion was in 1937, followed quickly by the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of all Latin America being elected in 1938.

With continued growth the National Spiritual Assembly was first elected in 1961. The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated almost 38,000 Bahá'ís in 2005.

Islam

Main article: Islam in Mexico

In 2010 there were 3,700 Muslims in Mexico. Islam is mainly practiced by members of the Arab, Turkish, and other expatriate communities, though there is a very small number of the indigenous population in Chiapas that practices Islam.

Buddhism

Main article: Buddhism in Mexico

A Tibetan Buddhist ritual in Valle de Bravo.

Approximately 108,701 Buddhists are counted in Mexico. Also one of six Tibet Houses in the world – Casa Tibet México – is located in Mexico City. It is used by the Dalai Lama and other leaders of Tibetan Buddhism to preserve and share Tibetan culture and spirituality. Alejandro Jodorowsky has stated that he discovered Zen Buddhism in the 1960s while in Mexico.

There are also two institutions from Theravada Buddhism tradition, the Theravada Buddhist Monastery [3] and the Vipassana House of Meditation.[4] There are at least 30 Buddhist groups in Mexico.[5]

Nonreligious

Main article: Irreligion in Mexico

Although the demographics of atheism and irreligion in Mexico is hard to measure because many atheists are officially counted as Catholic, almost three million people in the 2000 National Census reported having no religion.

Recent surveys have shown that around 3% of Catholics attend church daily and 44% attend church at least once a week, and, according to INEGI, the number of atheists grows annually by 5.2%, while the number of Catholics grows by 1.7%.

Census Information

Religion according to the Census (2010)

Religion	Numbers	Percent
Catholic	92,924,489	82.72
Anabaptist/Mennonites	10,753	0.01
Baptist	252,874	0.23
Church of the Nazarene	40,225	0.04
Methodist	25,370	0.02
Presbyterian	437,690	0.39
Other historic Protestant	53.832	0.05
Pentecostal	1,782,021	1.59
Other Christian Evangelical	5,783,442	5.15
Seventh_day Adventist	661,878	0.59
Mormons	314,932	0.28
Jehovah's Witnesses	1,561,086	1.39
Eastern religions	18,185	0.02
Judaism	67,476	0.06
Islam	3,760	< 0.01
Native religions	27,839	0.02
Spiritualism	35,995	0.03
Other religions	19,636	0.02
No religion	5,262,546	4.68
Not specified	3,052,509	2.72
Notes

Population in terms of religion by state (2000)

State	Roman Catholic	Protestant and Evangelical	Other Christian	Jewish	Other	None	Not specified
Aguascalientes	95.6%	1.9%	0.7%	<0.1%	0.1%	0.8%	0.7%
Baja California	81.4%	7.9%	2.7%	<0.1%	0.2%	6.2%	1.6%
Baja California Sur	89.0%	4.0%	1.9%	<0.1%	0.2%	3.6%	0.1%
Campeche	71.3%	13.2%	4.7%	<0.1%	1.7%	9.9%	0.8%
Chiapas	63.8%	13.9%	9.0%	<0.1%	<0.1%	13.1%	1.2%
Chihuahua	84.6%	7.1%	2.0%	<0.1%	0.1%	5.1%	1.1%
Coahuila	86.4%	6.8%	1.8%	<0.1%	0.1%	3.8%	1.1%
Colima	93.0%	2.9%	1.4%	<0.1%	0.1%	1.8%	0.8%
Durango	90.4%	3.9%	1.8%	<0.1%	<0.1%	2.9%	0.9%
Federal District	90.5%	3.6%	1.3%	0.2%	0.8%	2.9%	0.7%
Guanajuato	96.4%	1.3%	0.7%	<0.1%	0.1%	0.7%	0.7%
Guerrero	89.2%	4.4%	2.0%	<0.1%	0.4%	3.1%	0.9%
Hidalgo	90.1%	5.2%	1.3%	<0.1%	0.4%	1.6%	0.7%
Jalisco	95.4%	2.0%	0.9%	<0.1%	<0.1%	0.9%	0.7%
Mexico	91.2%	3.8%	1.6%	0.1%	0.7%	1.8%	0.8%
Michoacán	94.8%	1.9%	1.1%	<0.1%	0.2%	1.3%	0.8%
Morelos	83.6%	7.3%	3.1%	0.1%	0.5%	4.3%	1.0%
Nayarit	91.8%	3.0%	1.3%	<0.1%	0.2%	2.9%	0.7%
Nuevo León	87.9%	6.2%	2.0%	<0.1%	0.1%	2.8%	0.9%
Oaxaca	84.8%	7.8%	2.3%	<0.1%	0.2%	4.0%	0.9%
Puebla	91.6%	4.3%	1.4%	<0.1%	0.4%	1.4%	0.8%
Querétaro	95.3%	1.9%	0.9%	<0.1%	0.2%	0.9%	0.8%
Quintana Roo	73.2%	11.2%	4.6%	<0.1%	0.2%	9.6%	1.1%
San Luis Potosí	92.0%	4.6%	1.0%	<0.1%	0.2%	1.5%	0.7%
Sinaloa	86.8%	2.9%	2.0%	<0.1%	<0.1%	7.1%	1.0%
Sonora	87.9%	4.8%	1.8%	<0.1%	<0.1%	4.4%	1.1%
Tabasco	70.4%	13.6%	5.0%	<0.1%	<0.1%	10.0%	0.8%
Tamaulipas	82.9%	8.7%	2.4%	<0.1%	0.2%	4.9%	1.0%
Tlaxcala	93.4%	2.9%	1.4%	<0.1%	0.4%	1.0%	0.9%
Veracruz	82.9%	6.9%	3.3%	<0.1%	0.2%	5.9%	0.8%
Yucatán	84.3%	8.4%	3.0%	<0.1%	0.1%	3.5%	0.8%
Zacatecas	95.1%	1.9%	1.0%	<0.1%	<0.1%	1.1%	0.8%
Mexico total	87.99%	5.20%	2.07%	0.05%	0.31%	3.52%	0.86%

Further reading

• Dow, James W. "The Expansion of Protestantism in Mexico: An Anthropological View." Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 78, No. 4 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 827–851

External links

• Religion in Mexico