Irreligion in Mexico

The Street Gazette: "Anti Clerical Manifestation", by Posada, shows the Mexican Army cavalry attacking irreligious peasants who protested the power of the Roman Catholic Church.

Irreligion in Mexico refers to atheism, deism, religious skepticism, secularism, and secular humanism in Mexican society, which was a confessional state after independence from Imperial Spain. The first political constitution of the Mexican United States, enacted in 1824, stipulated that Roman Catholicism was the national religion in perpetuity, and prohibited any other religion.[1] Since 1857, however, by law, Mexico has had no official religion;[2] as such, anti-clerical laws meant to promote a secular society, contained in the 1857 Constitution of Mexico and in the 1917 Constitution of Mexico, limited the participation in civil life of Roman Catholic organizations and allowed government intervention in religious participation in politics.

In 1992, the Mexican constitution was amended to eliminate the restrictions and granted legal status to religious organizations, limited property rights, voting rights to ministers, and allowed a greater number of priests in Mexico.[3] Nonetheless, the principles of the separation of church and state remain; members of religious orders (priests, nuns, ministers, et al.) cannot hold elected office, the federal government cannot subsidize any religious organization, and religious orders, and their officers, cannot teach in the public school system.

Historically, the Roman Catholic Church dominated the religious, political, and cultural landscapes of the nation; yet, the Catholic News Agency said that there exists a great secular community of atheists, intellectuals and irreligious people,[4][5] reaching 10% according to recent polls by religious agencies.[6]

According to the 2020 census, 8% of the population is nonreligious.[7][8]

  1. ^ "Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States (1824)". Archived from the original on March 18, 2012.
  2. ^ "Article 130 of Constitution". Archived from the original on March 3, 2007.
  3. ^ "Mexico". International Religious Report. U.S. Department of State. 2003. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
  4. ^ "Catholic News Agency Rise of atheism in Mexico". Archived from the original on 2009-03-14. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  5. ^ "México sigue siendo católico… pero crece el número de ateos". www.aciprensa.com.
  6. ^ "El 90% de los mexicanos cree en Dios: Encuesta — la Jornada". Archived from the original on 2013-12-05. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  7. ^ "'Soy ateo, gracias a Dios': Aumentan las personas sin religión en México" (in Spanish). El finaciero. 25 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Religion – Mexico Census". Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI). 2020.