Mexico
Religious beliefs in Mexico
Mexico has no official religion compare to other Latin American countries. The 1917 Constitution enforces various restrictions on the church. The Mexican government does not grant any financial assistance to the church and the church does not take part in any public teaching. But in 1992, Mexico removes most limitations of the Catholic Church together with other religions. It also grants legal status to all religious groups.
The latest survey concluded that at almost 95% of the Mexican population consider themselves as Christians with 89% belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. Celebrations like Christmas and Lenten Season are traditionally observed. All public and private schools take vacation during Easter. Next to Brazil, Mexico has the largest Catholic population in the world. The Protestant, mostly Pentecostals and Charismatic, has the second largest population in Mexico with almost 5 million believers or 6% of the nation’s population. Other Christian religions include Seventh-day Adventists (600,000), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (250,000) and Jehovah’s Witnesses (600,000).
Judaism has been practiced in Mexico for centuries that date back when Hernando Cortes occupied the Aztecs in 1521. Based on the last INEGI report, there are at least 45,000 Mexican Jews by the end of 2000. Members of the Arab, Turkish and other expatriate communities observed Islam as well as a small population of indigenous people in Chiapas. A number of Mayan people in the Yucatan Peninsula still observed the traditional practices of their ancestors. In the 2000 National Census survey, at about 3 million Mexicans do not belong to any religion.
