Mexico is a huge and colorful country on the south coast of the North American continent. Its population today is 113 million people, among whom are representatives of various world religions. But most of the (which is natural from the historical background, which will be discussed below) are Catholic Christians.
Mexico: Religion and Culture
Statistics show that in 2010, more than 95% of Mexican citizens identified themselves as Christians. But before finding out which religion is in Mexico, it is worth considering that the percentage of people who emigrated to this country is quite high. These are both Americans and residents of India, Russia, European countries.
Mexico, whose religion is an object of great national pride, has replaced its confessional composition throughout the entire evolution of the state. It is noteworthy that during the colonization and settlement of the mainland by the Spaniards at the beginning of the sixteenth century and in the further development of the colonies, the indigenous people - representatives of the most ancient tribes - gradually converted to Christianity. Therefore, even today, there are several dozen tribes that have fully accepted Catholicism.
History reference
The era of ancient tribal ties in Mexico dictated, first of all, the cult of the forces of nature: earth, sky, elements. Therefore, the priests of ancient tribes appealed to their gods so that their agriculture would become more productive. The gods could take pity and rain over huge arable lands or send their divine punishment to the people in the form of a severe drought.
Sacrifices to the gods were an integral part of the culture of the ancient Mexican tribes. The priests chose the best people in order to give a gift to higher powers, they brought the first harvest to their totems, believing that in this way they would deserve divine mercy. Such a comprehensive presence of religion in the life of ancient societies at one time led to the decline and weakening of civilization.
Colonial period
Christianity did not come to Mexico in a peaceful way. It was planted by conquistadors and developed with their own participation, when they settled the mainland, destroying the indigenous population. Since the first Spanish conquerors settled in the territory of modern Mexico, the role of the church has grown steadily.
Until the mid-19th century, most of the country's territory belonged to church administration. But the changes were not long in coming. With the onset of revolutionary time, the church separated from state administration.
Today, the choice of the main religion is an individual affair of everyone, and the state itself has a secular character of government. In general, Mexico, whose main religion is Christianity, has about 3 million representatives of the Protestant community and half as many Orthodox Christians.
But it’s worth separately to talk about the participation of church associations in the life of today's Mexico.
Mexico: Religion and the “Symphony of Authorities”
Along with the official government, making political statements and activating civil society, the church is actively involved in the fight against radical sects, and also focuses on the demographic and economic problems of the whole country.
A similar trend is observed in many states today, and such intervention of the church in secular affairs is not evaluated as sharply negative, since any supervision is more useful than its absence. Mexico shares the same opinion, the religion of which has great cultural and historical wealth.
Special Culture of the South
Since the Mexicans are the third largest nation in the entire Western Hemisphere, it cannot but be motley. Here you can find a variety of cultural, religious, political and everyday outlooks on life.
In general, once in this unique country, you will immediately understand what it is. If you are a person who was lucky enough to travel in the Western Hemisphere, then you must have noticed that all the peoples of the south of North America and the north of the South are united by some pronounced mentality. Mexico, whose religion and culture is extremely rich, will prove to you that all its citizens are united in a single system of Latin American culture that has developed over many centuries.
The paganism of the Mexican tribes had a huge influence on it, then the "intervention" of the European colonialists. Modern inhabitants of the country inherited many traditional rites, cultural norms and a significant part of their mentality from the Spaniards who arrived on the mainland in the sixteenth century. In this regard, it is very revealing that most Mexicans today consider Spanish to be their native language, in its local dialect variations.