Mexico is a country with a diversity and plurality of religions. According to the National Institute for Statistics and Geography (INEGI), religious diversity is increasing and Pentecostal numbers are growing. Even though Catholicism remains the creed of the majority, the percentage of Catholics is declining. However, the Virgin of Guadalupe is still essential to understand the Mexican heritage. This key figure represents what some call syncretism, while others prefer the concept of spiritual synthesis. The Virgin of Guadalupe represents the core of Mexican identity – a virgin, with Indian figure, morena, pregnant, who takes care of her people, the representation of the Mexican people through the figure of Juan Diego, the Nahua to whom she appears on an ancient mountain dedicated to the goddess Tonantzin.

Historical Background

The influence of the Catholic missionary work of the sixteenth century prevailed at least until the middle of the nineteenth century. By then, Mexico had become one of the first countries to start the secularisation process. In 1845 the first Lutheran church was founded in Mexico. Its missionary presence was linked to the US military invasion of the same year. From then on, during the second half of the century, different Protestant churches were established: Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Evangelical. Beyond their intention to evangelise, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians and Baptists became allies of the US State Department. In the twentieth century new movements arrived from the USA – Pentecostals, the Assemblies of God, the Seventh-day Adventists, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and Jehovah's Witnesses – while others came from Europe – Orthodox, Armenians, Muslims and Jews. Some new churches were founded by Mexicans themselves, such as the Iglesia de la Luz del Mundo (Light of the World Church), founded in 1926 in Monterrey by Eusebio Joaquín González, just before the Cristero War. Today, the Light of the World Church is one of the most important churches in Mexico and has a presence in more than 50 countries.

Two Constitutions opened the state and the nation to other Christian denominations. First, the Constitution of 1857 allowed Mexicans to choose their creeds. However, in 1917 a new Constitution was approved, and this time it did not give legal recognition to any churches.