What is the state of Catholicism in Mexico?

[Windfish]

From what I have read, although the entire population self-identifies as Catholic, there is a very small percentage of Mexicans who are practicing. I have also read that there is a growing trend of Mexican Catholics leaving the Church for Protestantism, but the sources for this information are all Protestant, so I am not sure if I should trust them.

 

[Bekamom]

Well I haven’t been to mexico but I do live right near the border and at least here I can say that the majority of the people attend spanish mass and are catholic. At least at the border there is still a majority for the catholic faith.

 

[Windfish]

Well I haven’t been to mexico but I do live right near the border and at least here I can say that the majority of the people attend spanish mass and are catholic. At least at the border there is still a majority for the catholic faith.

That’s wonderful! My parents are immigrants to America from Mexico, and it is to them that I owe my Catholic faith. It has been a while since I have been to Mexico, but I remember everyone being culturally Catholic, at least.

 

[Bekamom]

well here it is still very much the culture and the faith so I hope that helps you out.

 

[awatkins69]

I just got back from Mexico about a month ago. I was staying in Mexico city for a few days, but I was mostly in smaller towns. It seems that in the more urban areas like Mexico City and Tijuana the Church is less strong than the more rural areas. But it’s still strong there. While in Mexico City, I was downtown right in the main plaza and they were having a huge festival for Saint Jude. I couldn’t even get into the Churches because there were such huge crowds. People were carrying St. Jude statues around and were all dressing up like him and everything.

Where I was staying out in the smaller towns and rural areas, it seems people are very very religious. There are shrines to OLG on all the streets. Crosses are hung up everywhere. Churches on every other corner. Most interestingly, people are not as secular-minded as here. I know that at least where I live, talking about religion is a big no-no and taboo. It’s something polite people do not bring up. People are much more simple and holy in Mexico, even if that seems like a big over-generalization.

However, in terms of traditionalism, I’m not sure that’s a big thing there. As I said, there is a **huge **devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. All the Masses I went to were reverent. They mainly used organ, chant, and traditional hymns. However, there was essentially no use of Latin or the EF. The Mass, chants and other music were all in Spanish. They really just don’t see the point of Latin in the liturgy, if they even acknowledge it at all. People pray the rosary and follow many traditional Catholic customs.

However, there are some problems. Less and less people are regularly attending Mass, catechesis is essentially horrible, and many people are converting to protestantism. This phenomenon of conversion to protestantism is mainly prominent in urban areas. On the border especially, like Tijuana. The protestants actually preach and practice their faith and take it very seriously, which is appealing to many. The main problem is that the protestants actually try to evangelize, while the Church does nothing other than expect people to come.

 

[VetA]

From what I have read, although the entire population self-identifies as Catholic, there is a very small percentage of Mexicans who are practicing. I have also read that there is a growing trend of Mexican Catholics leaving the Church for Protestantism, but the sources for this information are all Protestant, so I am not sure if I should trust them.

entire really, then i guess my priest is lying when he says he’s a converted baptist…

 

[Windfish]

I just got back from Mexico about a month ago. I was staying in Mexico city for a few days, but I was mostly in smaller towns. It seems that in the more urban areas like Mexico City and Tijuana the Church is less strong than the more rural areas. But it’s still strong there. While in Mexico City, I was downtown right in the main plaza and they were having a huge festival for Saint Jude. I couldn’t even get into the Churches because there were such huge crowds. People were carrying St. Jude statues around and were all dressing up like him and everything.

Critics have seen this as a sign of the Church’s decline in Mexico, actually. Instead of living a faith centered on Jesus Christ, it is alleged that the people are more centered on devotion to Our Lady and to the saints. This leaves the door wide open for Protestant evangelists to level their usual claims against the Catholic Church, as you noted.

I forgot to mention, the Pope is big there, or at least was. Can anyone explain this? I have never quite understood it. I mean, the Pope is obviously a big deal to us Catholics, but the enthusiasm for the Pope among Mexican and other Latin Catholics is unusually strong.

 

[Claire_from_DE]

“The main problem is that the protestants actually try to evangelize, while the Church does nothing other than expect people to come”

I think this is something we need to work on as lay Catholics, even here. We are the ones out in the world. We are “the Church” that people see. If we ourselves become converted, in love with Jesus, we can bring others into the church.

It would be good if the church had some kind of outreach, though. I wonder how many of us would volunteer to go through the training and do it. My father used to speak about training with the Catholic Evidence League back in the 1930’s. They would take a course to convincingly present a truth of the faith. They’d learn the biblical background and would practice and get certified for each dogma. Then they were authorized to preach it on the street corners in the cities. Maybe we need something like that today.