Joshua Bennett
Mexico has the second-largest number of Catholics in the world, with around 90 million Catholics as of 2020. This equates to approximately 78% of the total population, though some sources place this figure slightly lower at 77.7%. While Mexico is a secular country, it has allowed freedom of religion since the mid-19th century, and Catholicism is the dominant religion. However, the percentage of Mexicans who identify as Catholic has been declining in recent decades, falling by more than 10 percentage points in the last 20 years alone.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Total number of Catholics in Mexico | 90,224,559 (2023) or 97,864,220 (2020) |
| Percentage of the population that is Catholic | 77.7% (2020), 77.8% (before 2020), 78% (2020), 69.4% (2023) |
| Position globally by number of Catholics | 2nd |
| Position in Latin America by number of Catholics | 2nd |
| Number of Mexican Catholics who have left Catholicism | 10% (2020) |
| Number of Catholic diocesan priests | 15,700 |
| Number of Catholic men and women in religious orders | 46,000 |
| Number of ecclesiastical provinces | 18 |
| Number of dioceses | 90 |
| Number of states with 75% Catholics | 10 (2020) |
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What You'll Learn
Mexico has the world's second-largest number of Catholics
The history of the Catholic Church in Mexico dates back to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in the early 16th century. During the colonial period, the Catholic Church enjoyed a privileged status as the official and unique religion. However, in the mid-19th century, Mexican liberals curtailed the church's exclusive standing, allowing the establishment of other Christian denominations. Despite the decline in the percentage of Catholics, Mexico still has a strong Catholic presence, with a larger majority of Mexicans remaining tied to their Catholic faith compared to many other Latin American countries.
The Mexican Catholic Church is part of the worldwide Catholic Church and is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and his Curia in Rome. The country is divided into 18 Ecclesiastical provinces, containing a total of 90 dioceses, with approximately 15,700 diocesan priests and 46,000 men and women in religious orders. While the majority of Mexicans are Catholic, religious participation and church attendance are relatively low. According to surveys, around 3% of Catholics attend church daily, and 44% attend church at least once a week.
Catholicism in Mexico is deeply intertwined with cultural and folk traditions. In many parts of the country, Catholic practices are syncretized with native and indigenous beliefs. For example, in the Yucatán Peninsula, some Mayan people continue to practice their traditional beliefs alongside or influenced by Catholicism. Additionally, urban Catholics in Mexico tend to be more secularized, with spiritual apathy being observed among the middle and upper classes, except for specific beliefs such as zodiac signs and the veneration of the Virgin Mary.
While Mexico guarantees freedom of religion, the country has faced challenges in ensuring religious freedom and safety for religious leaders. The Catholic Multimedia Center (CMC) has reported high levels of violence and threats against priests, making Mexico the most violent country for priests in Latin America for several consecutive years. Additionally, there have been reports of religious discrimination, such as the case of local government authorities threatening Protestant families who did not participate in Catholic festivities. Nevertheless, Mexico continues to be a predominantly Catholic country, and the Catholic Church remains an influential institution in the nation's cultural and religious landscape.
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Catholicism is Mexico's primary religion
Historically, the Catholic Church in Mexico is the oldest established church, dating back to the period of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519–1521). At independence, the Catholic Church maintained its status as the only permissible church in the country. In the mid-nineteenth century, Mexican liberals curtailed the exclusive standing of the church, and Protestant missionaries, mainly from the United States, were allowed to evangelize in Mexico. Since then, the percentage of Catholics in Mexico has steadily declined, falling from 99% in 1910 to 77.7% in 2020. This decline is attributed to the growth of other Christian denominations, particularly various Protestant churches, Jehovah's Witness, and Mormonism.
Despite the overall decline, Mexico has seen a notable boom in New Age attraction among Roman Catholics in recent decades. Additionally, more than half of Mexican Catholics are nominal, and some combine or syncretize Catholic practices with native traditions. For example, in the Yucatán Peninsula, some Mayan people practice the traditional beliefs of their ancestors alongside Catholicism. Urban Catholics tend to be more secularized, and while spiritual apathy is common among the middle and high urban classes, belief in the Virgin Mary (as represented by Lady of Guadalupe) remains strong.
Catholicism in Mexico is not uniform in its adherence to Catholic Church teachings. While most Mexican Catholics disagree with the Church's stance on certain issues, such as gay marriage, sex outside of marriage, divorce, and contraception, they hold more traditional views on other matters. For instance, only about 31% support the ordination of married men and women as priests. Mexican Catholics generally have positive feelings towards Pope Francis, with 86% viewing him favourably according to a late 2013 survey.
The Catholic Church in Mexico faces challenges, including violence and corruption, which are among the top concerns of the Mexican public. The country has been identified as the most violent one for priests in Latin America for 14 consecutive years, with the Catholic Multimedia Center (CMC) reporting 800 incidents of extortion and threats against priests between October 2021 and October 2022. Religious leaders, including those from the Catholic Church, are often involved in politics and social activism, making them more vulnerable to generalized violence.
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The Catholic population in Mexico has been declining
Mexico has the second-largest number of Catholics in the world, with around 90 million Catholics as of 2020. This equates to approximately 78% of the total population, according to the 2020 census. However, the Catholic population in Mexico has been declining over the years.
Historically, the Catholic Church in Mexico was the only permissible church in the country following independence in the early nineteenth century. It maintained a privileged status as the official and unique religion. However, in the mid-nineteenth century, Mexican liberals curtailed the exclusive standing of the church, and Protestant missionaries from the United States were allowed to evangelize legally. This marked the beginning of the growth of other Christian denominations in Mexico.
The decline in the Catholic population became more pronounced in recent decades due to the growth of various Protestant churches, Jehovah's Witness, and Mormonism. In 2020, the Catholic population in Mexico was 77.7% or 78% of the total population, down from 82.7% in 2000 and 96% in 1970. The number of Mexican Catholics fell by 5% in the first decade of the 21st century, and the decline has been more significant in certain regions, such as the south-east, where Catholics make up less than two-thirds of the population.
While the trend away from Catholicism has been less pronounced in Mexico compared to other Latin American countries, it is still significant. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center report, 81% of adults in Mexico identify as Catholic, compared to 90% who were raised in the faith. This suggests that while Mexico remains a predominantly Catholic country, there is a notable shift away from Catholicism, with an increasing number of people leaving the religion or adopting other denominations.
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Atheism and irreligion are growing in Mexico
Mexico has the world's second-largest number of Catholics, with around 90,224,559 to 97,864,220 Catholics, or approximately 77.7% to 78% of the population as of 2020. However, the percentage of Mexicans who identify as Catholic has been declining. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center report, 81% of adults in Mexico identify as Catholic, compared to 90% who say they were raised in the religion.
While Catholicism remains the dominant religion in Mexico, atheism and irreligion are gaining ground. Irreligion in Mexico refers to atheism, deism, religious skepticism, secularism, and secular humanism. It is complex to measure the growth of atheism and irreligion in Mexico because many Catholics and Protestants lead secular lives, and different religious studies may report varying percentages of unaffiliated people. The National Census in 2010 reported 4.7% of the population as having no religion. According to INEGI, the number of atheists in Mexico grows annually by 5.2%, while the number of Catholics grows by a slower rate of 1.7%.
The history of the Catholic Church in Mexico dates back to the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire from 1519 to 1521. During the colonial period, the Catholic Church held prominent social and political power, contributing to the country's cultural identity. After gaining independence from Spain in the early nineteenth century, Mexico established a legal framework that continued the privileged status of the Catholic Church as the official and unique religion. However, this sparked an extended period of violent conflict between conservative supporters of the Church and liberals seeking to diminish its power. The Mexican Revolution was won by largely anticlerical Constitutionalists, and the Church's role was restricted by the Constitution.
In recent times, Mexico has become a more secular-minded nation. The Constitution was amended in 1992 to lift almost all restrictions on religion, granting legal status to all religious groups and allowing a greater number of priests in the country. While religious instruction is prohibited in public schools, religious groups are permitted to maintain private schools. Additionally, most Mexicans believe that religion should be separate from government policies and that religious leaders should not influence politics.
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Catholic Christianity is often syncretized with folk customs
Mexico has the world's second-largest number of Catholics, with around 97,864,220 Catholics, or approximately 78% of the total population as of the 2020 census. The history of the Catholic Church in Mexico dates back to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in the early sixteenth century, and it has continued as an institution into the twenty-first century.
Catholicism in Mexico is deeply intertwined with the country's colonial past and indigenous traditions. The Spanish conquest of what is now Mexico involved the forced conversion, destruction, and violence against the indigenous peoples. Conquistadors, such as Hernan Cortes, destroyed symbols of indigenous religions and replaced them with Catholic imagery, often building churches on top of destroyed temples. Despite these violent efforts to impose Catholicism, indigenous beliefs and rituals persisted and blended with Catholic practices, creating a unique form of Mexican Catholicism.
This blending of beliefs, known as religious syncretism, resulted in the incorporation of indigenous symbols, rituals, and festivities into Catholic practices. For example, sacrificial basins used in Aztec sacrifices were repurposed for Christian baptisms, and indigenous symbols were incorporated into Christian crosses. Additionally, the translation of Catholic texts into indigenous languages, such as Nahuatl, further blended the two belief systems.
Even today, many Mexican Catholics continue to practice a form of Catholicism that includes pre-Hispanic traditions. According to surveys, about half of Mexican Catholics report "medium" to "high" levels of engagement with indigenous beliefs and practices. For example, a significant number of Mexican Catholics believe in the evil eye, reincarnation, magic, sorcery, witchcraft, and the possibility of communication with spirits.
The Day of the Dead is another example of syncretism, deriving from pre-Hispanic customs of venerating the dead, but modern altars often include pictures of Catholic saints. The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is also a significant site, illustrating the blending of Catholic and indigenous traditions.
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Frequently asked questions
Mexico has the world's second-largest number of Catholics, with 90,224,559 Catholics according to the 2020 census. This equates to approximately 78% of the total population.
Yes, the number of Catholics in Mexico has been declining in recent decades, falling by more than 10 percentage points in the last 20 years. In 1910, 99% of the population was Catholic, compared to 77.7% in 2020.
Mexico has the second-largest Catholic population in the world, after Brazil. Mexico has a larger Catholic population than many other Latin American countries, where the proportion of people who identify as Catholic has declined more significantly.
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