An ancestral religion
Before the Spanish conquest, the Guatemalans had their own beliefs. These ranged from a vast set of gods, through elaborate rituals, to a fully-fledged hierarchical priestly system. The natives not only had a sacred calendar, but also specific methods of divination and confession of sins, as well as specific acts of atonement.
The basis of these practices is carefully documented in the Popol Vuh, one of the most important texts in Mayan literature. Probably written some thirty years after the Conquista by an Indian cleric, it recounts the Maya worldview, their principles - such as respect for the environment and the creatures that live in it - and the myths and history of the Quichés, the Maya ethnolinguistic group most present in Guatemala.
Translated by the Spanish Catholic priest Francisco Ximénez between 1701 and 1703, this kind of "Bible" describes the genesis of the world: for the Maya, it was built from nothing by the gods, not out of kindness, but in order to be worshipped. Once the earth, mountains, flora and fauna had been created, it would have taken them three attempts to give birth to humans, first unsuccessfully fashioned from clay, then from wood. Finally, they would have been successfully conceived from corn.
The Maya also divided the universe into three levels: the underworld - also known as the "infraworld " - the earth and the sky. Each of these is subdivided into several realms, over which different gods reign. Their "hierarchy" ranges from the god of death in the ninth basement, known as Ah Puch, to the god of heaven, Itzamná - the son of the creator Hunab Ku - on the thirteenth floor. The most important seem to have been the sun god, Kinich Ahau, the god of wind and water, Kukulkán, and the god of wild plants and animals, Yum Kaax. These elements make up the third and fourth parts of the Popol Vuh, in which the power play and the perpetual challenge against the gods that humans engaged in are also exposed.
The first part of the sacred book is dedicated to the heroic adventures of the twins Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué, while the second takes place in an earlier era. It recounts the descent of their father and his twin brother into Xibalba - the underworld - and their defeat at the hands of the lords who inhabit it. Finally, we learn how Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué came to be and triumph over these formidable enemies.
The survival of Mayan beliefs
From 1524, the Catholic Church did everything possible to convert the Indians. If the recourse to violence was legion, the emblematic priest Bartolomé de Las Casas advocated the peaceful method as soon as he arrived in 1537, before denouncing the barbarity of the conquistadors to the crown. It was he who inspired Charles V to pass the "Leyes nuevas" - "New Laws" - of 1542, which provided for the gradual abolition of the encomiendas and the prohibition of slavery of the natives. However, whether it was the soft or the hard way, Spain won over a large part of the population, which had become Catholic.
Beware: this does not mark the disappearance of Mayan beliefs. Priests and prayers still exist today in the different indigenous regions of the country and are requested by families to celebrate matrimonial ceremonies, baptisms of children and newborns, funeral services and interventions with the sick. Likewise, entire communities always mobilize on special dates of the Maya-Quiché calendar to go to sacred places in the mountains. In addition, anthropologists believe that when indigenous people visit Catholic churches, such as the one in Chichicastenango, Quiché, they probably perform Mayan prayers and celebrations.
Thus, the relationship with nature remains entirely charged with the cosmological vision of this civilization, closely linked to the calendars established by the ancients and based on the planetary cycles that they had calculated by observation. If the traditional indigenous rites could not be totally eradicated by the missionaries, priests and Catholic authorities, it is because the leaders and the communities mixed them with those of the Spaniards developing a subtle syncretism. More concretely, they adopted the forms, liturgy and doctrine of the conquistadors to better hide, protect and perpetuate their ancestral religion.
A Catholic Church in decline
Nevertheless, since 1524, official censuses have consistently reported a totally Catholic population, erroneously including priests and indigenous devotees - known as costumbristas. For, despite the adoption of a policy of separation of State and Church by the liberal governments of the 1830s and 1870-1944 - led by Justo Rufino Barrios, in power from 1873 to 1885 - it regained its place within the country after the wind of liberation instigated by the 1944 Revolution. Reinforced in its positions, in the 1960s the Church launched the Movimiento de Sembradores de la Palabra - the Sowers of the Word Movement, or "Catholic Action " in the west of the country - to convert costumbristas to orthodox Catholicism. Through humanitarian promotion and agricultural development programs in hamlets and villages, many indigenous people abandoned the brotherhood system and their festivals.
It wasn't until the signing of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala in 1985 that the country was declared secular, and freedom of conscience, religion and worship - both private and public - was guaranteed to all citizens and to all religions legally established in the country. This was a turning point for the indigenous people, who were able to start acting and publicly displaying their faith. Official recognition came later, in March 1995, with the signing of the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in Mexico, by representatives of the government and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG).
The rise of the Protestant churches
The days when Catholicism was omnipresent in Guatemala now seem to be over. Not only are there a number of religious groupings, such as the Garifuna - descendants of African slaves brought to Central America by Europeans - in and around Izabal, Livingston, but also Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Baha'is, Muslims, Jews and agnostics. Above all, the decline of the Church is due to the overwhelming majority of evangelical Protestant communities among the many sectarian movements established in the country today.
Their presence is such that nearly 42% of the Guatemalan population is Protestant, compared with 45% Catholic, according to the latest statistics on the subject, published by the ProDatos institute in 2015. This phenomenon has its origins in the 1870s, when liberal governments began to encourage the rise of Protestant churches. Gradually, they established Baptist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Lutheran, Pentecostal and Adventist missionaries and pastors in the country from the USA, UK, Scotland, Germany and some British Caribbean colonies.
Initially slow, the proliferation and growth of these groups and congregations has accelerated relatively rapidly since the middle of the 20th century. As in Brazil - whose gradual religious "transformation" is impressive, given that it is the world's largest Catholic country - Pentecostalism has made its mark in Guatemala. The reason for this is the flexibility of its structure, which has helped it to reach the poorest populations. The movement has drawn closer to the indigenous people, translating holy texts into their languages and founding a multitude of churches in every village of the country. In addition to providing spiritual support, these churches enabled the Pentecostals to offer material assistance to the locals. Distributing corn or beans to the most underprivileged, funding soccer clubs to keep young people away from gangs... So many ways to earn their faith, as a survey conducted in 2014 by the Pew Research Center attests. The result is unequivocal: while the primary reason they cite is the quest for a "more personal relationship with God", 60% of Catholic Latin Americans convert to Protestantism because they've found "a church that helps its faithful more".
Very often financed by conservative American circles, evangelicals - whether Pentecostal or not - also ensure their presence in Guatemala through private television channels, charities, popular fairs, NGOs, educational centers and study groups. Above all, their influence in politics grows from election to election. Far from adopting a line close to liberation theology - supposed to concern all oppressed communities - some Protestant churches have supported the most conservative parties, notably those opposed to Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (VTP) and marriage for all. These include
