A predominantly Catholic population
With 97.8 million faithful, Mexico is the second most Catholic country in the world, behind Brazil. Masses are held almost daily, and churches are attended by all generations, including the very young. In everyday life, religion is easily perceptible: people sign themselves as they get into their car or pass by a church, they have their bus or house blessed, they tattoo the face of Jesus or the Virgin of Guadalupe on their body... Christian feasts such as Christmas, Candlemas (Día de la Candelaria), or Holy Week (especially Good Friday) are celebrated with great fervor. Some celebrations are spectacular, such as those of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico, which attracts millions of pilgrims on December 12 to the basilica of the same name (the most visited in the world after St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican). The Catholic Church obviously has an influence on society as a whole, and on the family in particular. It often preaches a traditional conception of the family, which is less and less in tune with the realities of modern society. Questions about abortion or the morning-after pill disturb churchgoers, even though they often have recourse to them, legally or otherwise. Same-sex marriage also remains a taboo subject, even though it is authorized in some twenty states.
The 2020 population census shows that a large majority of Mexicans are Catholic (77.7%), but this percentage has fallen significantly over the last twenty years (88% in 2000), as much as between 1950 and 2000 (from 98% to 88%).
At the same time, Protestantism (Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and especially Pentecostals) has risen from 7.5% of the population in 2010 to 11.2% in 2020. An increase, but not a massive wave like in Brazil or Central America. Evangelical Christian churches, with their active proselytizing and emotional appeal, have more followers in isolated rural areas. The southern states of Mexico, with their large Indian populations, are the most sensitive to the evangelical push, which is also strong in neighboring Guatemala. Evangelicals account for almost a third of the population of Chiapas and a quarter of those of Tabasco and Campeche. These churches have the ability to create more self-help communities among the faithful, but they remain even more closed than the Catholic Church on sensitive issues such as homosexuality and abortion. Other religions (Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc.) account for barely 2.2% of Mexico's population, and an increasing number of Mexicans (one in ten) now declare themselves to have no religion, or to be atheists or agnostics.
The ambiguous relationship between a secular state and the Catholic Church
The Catholic religion arrived in Mexico with the Spanish conquistadors. During the three centuries of the colonial era, the church was close to the monarchy and the conservative aristocracy and continuously opposed the independence aspirations. After independence, the church opposed the progressive reforms of the liberals. In the middle of the 19th century, the liberals began to think about a model of separation between the state and the church. Several laws were passed between 1855 and 1861 to lay the foundations for this separation. But it was not a question of banning religion, which was still practiced by 99% of the population at the time. Later, the revolutionary Constitution of 1917 denied the Church's legal personality and its participation in political life. The clergy was also deprived of the right to property. Thus, places of worship and convents became state property, and Catholic schools were banned. The firm application of President Calles' anti-clerical measures provoked the bloody Cristero War (1926-1929), which pitted Catholic rebels against the liberal government. Relations calmed down in the 1930s and 1940s, and Catholic worship and schools were re-established, but the Church's legal personality was not re-established until 1992. Relations with the Vatican also improved. John Paul II was the first pope to set foot in Mexico, in Puebla, in 1979. He will return four times (1990, 1993, 1999 and 2002) to this country that he described as " siempre fiel " (always faithful). Benedict XVI visited in 2012 and Francis in 2016. Today, despite a well-established principle of secularism (enshrined in 2012 in the constitution), the Catholic Church still remains very influential in public life, influencing its conservative values in social debates (contraception, abortion, etc.). At the same time, since the 1960s, it has often been on the side of pro-democracy movements, for the defense of freedom of expression or the protection of migrants, for example.
From the Virgin of Guadalupe to Jesús Malverde
Despite the conversion of the Indians to Catholicism from the 16th century onwards, many pre-Hispanic beliefs persist and have become interwoven with Catholic practices. Religious syncretism is omnipresent in Mexico, especially in rural areas, where "pagan" rites are sometimes perpetuated close to churches.
Día de los Muertos. One of the most telling examples of syncretism is the Feast of the Dead (Día de los Muertos), celebrated on November1 and 2 (sometimes earlier in some communities). Listed by Unesco in 2008 as part of the world's intangible cultural heritage, it is distinguished from other celebrations paying tribute to the dead by its festive character and the creation of altars dedicated to the dead. These altars are covered with candles, pan de muertos (sweet breads in the shape of skulls or skeletons), small sugar skulls(calaveritas de azúcar), incense, and various offerings around the photo of the deceased: familiar objects, a dish they enjoyed, a cigar, tequila... One element cannot be missed: cempasúchil petals (from the Nahuatl sempôwalxôchitl, meaning "twenty flowers"). The powerful aroma of this variety of marigold perfumes tombs and cemetery walkways. The "flower of the dead", with its intense yellow-orange color, was already used by the Aztecs to decorate graves, or to smear on the faces of prisoners before their sacrifice, so that they wouldn't "feel" death coming! Great care was taken with the ritual, as the power of the dead is powerful, capable of bringing both a good harvest and misfortune to the family. The Spaniards arrived in America with the feast of All Saints. Over time, pre-Columbian and Catholic rites merged to form Día de los Muertos. November1st is the day for lost children, the 2nd for adults. But tradition has it that spirits arrive as early as October 28. This day is dedicated to those who died in accidents, and on the 29th to those who were hanged. The 30th and 31st are dedicated to children who died without being baptized, and to the dead who have no family to remember them. All night long, candles guide the spirits of the dead back to the living, while we sing and drink to the "health" of the dead.
The cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which is very popular, is also the fruit of syncretism. In 1531, the brown-skinned Virgin appeared to the Indian Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin at the foot of Tepeyac hill, near Mexico City. She asked him to build a chapel there. To convince the bishop to do so, the Virgin told Juan Diego where he could find roses, even though it was not flowering season. When Juan Diego stretched out the cloak he was wearing to give the roses to the bishop, the image of the brown Virgin appeared on it. The event convinced the bishop of the miracle, and today the famous Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe stands on the site of the apparition. An interesting detail is that the Tepeyac hill had been a sacred place of worship for Tonantzin, the Aztec goddess of fertility. The fact that the Virgin speaks Nahuatl and has indigenous features encouraged the conversion of the indigenous peoples to Catholicism, while at the same time integrating the figure of the Indian into the Catholic religion.
A much less Catholic "saint" has gained in popularity in recent years: Santa Muerte ("Holy Death"). The personification of death is popular in Mexico, but has never been so visible, particularly in Tepito, a district of Mexico City heavily affected by violence, where she has her own shrine. She is the patron saint of delinquents and the underprivileged, who turn to her for healing, employment or release from prison, when more "traditional" religious figures fail to provide an answer. The cult of Santa Muerte is influenced by pre-Hispanic beliefs, santería and Catholicism. It is said to be practiced by some 6 million people in Mexico! It is, of course, rejected by the Catholic and Protestant churches as demonic.
The most desperate also turn to Jesús Malverde, nicknamed the "Saint of the narcos". Narco-traffickers, whose lives are generally short and intense, need a little extra protection! Malverde was a 19th-century highwayman, a sort of Mexican Robin Hood, born and bred in Sinaloa, the Mecca of the drug cartels. Some have built chapels in his honor, notably in Culiacán, Tijuana and Chihuahua, but also in Los Angeles and Cali in Colombia. Popular beliefs attribute many miracles to Malverde. He also has protective powers, particularly for migrants attempting to cross the border into the United States illegally. Malverde shares these powers with a certain "Juan Soldado", but that's another story..
