Berkley Center

The roots of Mexico’s national identity lie in the country’s colonial past, a large portion of which involved the Roman Catholic Church. However, since the end of the twentieth century, Mexico has seen a surge in the number of Protestant churches, especially in the (largely rural) south. This “Third Wave” of expansion of the Protestant world reflects societal transformations in Mexico and is simultaneously serving as the catalyst for other changes.

The sudden increase in popularity experienced by (non-Catholic) Christian churches can be explained through various social and historical phenomenon. Historically and geographically, the penetration of Protestantism does not seem surprising; what is surprising, however, is that the majority of Christian churches lie in the far south, in states such as Chiapas. Indeed, 30.5 percent of Mexican Protestants speak an indigenous language, as compared to only 6.5 percent of Mexican Catholics. Taking Chiapas as an example, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the strength of these churches today is due to the fact that the area was largely controlled by German (and hence Protestant) landowners through the centuries; workers from these areas could then have migrated to other regions of the south, taking their new religion with them.

A much more plausible theory, in my view, points to the astounding levels of poverty and systematic marginalization that the people of the southern region have experienced since the sixteenth century. Incidentally, this is the same area in which reside the country’s largest indigenous communities. Thus, Protestantism could appear as an alternative to the current (Catholic) societal system that has traditionally failed to accept indigenous groups and is currently failing a large portion of its population economically.

In much the same way, the turn towards a new religion could reflect an attempt to adapt to and actively confront globalization. One of the many effects of globalization in Mexico is the phenomenon of urbanization, which itself could contribute to the higher levels of non-Catholic Christianity; new arrivals to a city from the countryside are attracted to the smaller, close-knit Protestant church communities that they encounter. However, the truth may be as simple as the lure of modernization. It seems in recent years that there has been a cultural de-emphasis on tradition, combined with the development of a more consumerist mindset.

The involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in politics is also a negative and may push people away from their traditional faith. As Feliciano Hernández Valle, a Protestant pastor of the Interdenominational Christian Church in Mexico's San Simon Ticoman neighborhood, stated, “The Catholic churches, unfortunately, offer people nothing. They have become too politicized." The implications of these changes are far from clear, and with the rate of conversions to Protestantism growing twice as fast as those to Catholicism (3.7 percent per year), it is an issue that Mexico will have to confront in the near future.

One obvious potential area of conflict is the country’s lack of experience with or exposure to a plurality of religions. Despite the fact that Catholicism and other forms of Christianity are so similar (comparatively), there is little tolerance or understanding between the groups as of yet. For example, one study conducted in 1999 found that nearly half of journalists in Oaxaca (an area in the south of Mexico) believed Protestantism to be a form of neocolonialism and a threat to the security of Mexico. Thus, the gravest problem that will result from this change is the perceived threat Protestantism will pose to the traditional identity of Mexico. However, with the rates of (Catholic) church attendance in global decline and the modest national popularity of phenomena such as the “cult” of La Iglesia de la Luz del Mundo (Church of the Light of the World), Mexico’s religious identity seemingly cannot avoid undergoing some changes.