Irreligion in Mexico
Encyclopedia
Irreligion in Mexico may refer to atheism
, agnosticism
, deism
, religious skepticism
, secular humanism
or general secularist
attitudes in Mexico
. Mexico was born after its independence as a confessional state
. The first Mexican constitution
was enacted in 1824, it stated that the religion of the nation is and will perpetually be the Roman Catholic Apostolic, and prohibited any other religion
. Since 1857, the country has no official religion
and some anti-clerical laws contained in both the 1857 and 1917
Constitutions imposed severe limitations on religious organizations and sometimes codified state intrusion into religious matters.
A 1992 constitutional amendment lifted most restrictions, granting all religious groups legal status, conceding them limited property rights, granting voting rights to religious ministers and lifting restrictions on the number of priests in the country. However, religious ministers cannot be elected to public office, the government does not provide any financial contributions to religious organizations and they can not participate in public education.
Although historically the Catholic Church has dominated the religious landscape of the country, according to the Catholic News Agency
, there is a growing community of atheists and non-religious people.
Since the time of the Spanish conquest, the Catholic Church has had a prominent position in the way virtues and morals are supposed to be implemented and has helped in the shaping of a large population's cultural identity
. The article 3 of first Mexican constitution of 1824
stated for example that: The Religion of the Mexican Nation, is, and will be perpetually, the Roman Catholic Apostolic. The Nation will protect it by wise and just laws, and prohibit the exercise of any other whatever.
However, during the middle of the 19th century there were many reforms in regards of the Church power on political matters. The current status of religious freedom reflects the historic tensions between the Catholic Church and the modern State. For most of the country's nearly 300 years as a Spanish colony, the Catholic Church involved itself heavily in politics. In the early national period, the Church's vast wealth and political influence spurred a powerful anti-clerical movement, which found political expression in the Liberal party
. The Catholic Church supported rebel Conservatives in the mid-19th century and later welcomed the country's occupation by a French army. Robert Haberman
of the Mexican Labour Party writes:
Turn-of-the-century collaboration with Porfirio Diaz
earned the Church the enmity of the victors in the Mexican Revolution. Consequently, severe restrictions on the Church were written into the country's present constitution, the Constitution of 1917. This constitution is the first one in the world to set out social rights, serving as a model for the Weimar Constitution of 1919 and the Russian Constitution of 1918. Nevertheless, like the Spanish Constitution of 1931
, it has been characterized as being hostile to religion. The 1917 Constitution outlawed teaching by clergy even in private schools, gave control over Church matters to the state, put all Church property at the disposal of the state, outlawed religious orders, outlawed foreign born priests, gave states the power to limit or eliminate priests in their territory, deprived priests of the civil rights to vote or hold office, prohibited Catholic organizations which advocated public policy, prohibited religious publications from commenting on public policy, prohibited clergy from religious celebrations and from wearing clerical garb outside of a church and deprived citizens of the right to a trial for violations of these provisions. The anticlerical resolutions above were included in the Mexican Constitution of 1917 as a consequence of the support given by the High Mexican Catholic Clergy to the dictatorship of Victoriano Huerta
.
The Federal Government's attempt to enforce the restrictions of the 1917 Constitution in the 1920s
led to violent repression and an open revolt by Catholic peasants in the Cristero Rebellion (1926–29). Tensions between the Church and the State eased after 1940, but constitutional restrictions were maintained even as enforcement became progressively lax over the ensuing decades. The Government established diplomatic relations with the Holy See
during the administration of President Carlos Salinas
, and the Government lifted almost all restrictions on the Catholic Church in 1992. That year the Government ratified its informal policy of not enforcing most legal controls on religious groups by, among other things, granting religious groups legal status, conceding them limited property rights, and lifting restrictions on the number of priests in the country. However, the law continues to mandate strict restrictions on the church and bars the clergy from holding public office, advocating partisan political views, supporting political candidates, or opposing the laws or institutions of the State. The Church's ability to own and operate mass media
is also limited. Indeed, after the creation of the Constitution the Catholic Church has been acutely hostile towards the Mexican government. As Laura Randall in his book Changing Structure of Mexico points out, most of the conflicts between citizens and religious leaders lie in the Church's overwhelming lack of understanding of the role of the state's laicism. "The inability of the Mexican Catholic Episcopate to understand the modern world translates into a distorted conception of the secular world and the lay state. Evidently, perceiving the state as anti-religious (or rather, anti-clerical) is the result of nineteenth-century struggles that imbued the state with anti-religious and anti-clerical tinges in Latin American countries, much to the Catholic Church's chagrin. Defining laicist education as a 'secular religion' that is also 'imposed and intolerant' is the clearest evidence of episcopal intransigence." Others, however see the Mexican state's anticlericalism differently. Recent President Vicente Fox
stated, "After 1917, Mexico was led by anti-Catholic Freemasons who tried to evoke the anticlerical spirit of popular indigenous President Benito Juarez of the 1880s. But the military dictators of the 1920s were a more savage lot than Juarez." Fox goes on to recount how priests were killed for trying to perform the sacraments, altars were desecrated by soldiers and freedom of religion outlawed by generals.
literally. In the case of Mexico the decline of religious influence of the Church is specially mirrored by the decline of church attendance among its citizens. Church attendance itself is a complex, multi-layered phenomenon that is subject to political and socio-economic factors. From 1940 to 1960 about 70% of Mexican Catholics attended church weekly while in 1982 only 54 percent partook of Mass once a week or more, and 21 percent claimed monthly attendance. Recent surveys have shown that only around 3% of Catholics attend church daily and, according to INEGI, the number of atheists grows annually by 5.2%, while the number of Catholics grows by 1.7%.
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, agnosticism
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
, deism
Deism
Deism in religious philosophy is the belief that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is the product of an all-powerful creator. According to deists, the creator does not intervene in human affairs or suspend the...
, religious skepticism
Religious skepticism
Religious skepticism is a type of skepticism relating to religion, but should not be confused with atheism. Religious skeptics question religious authority and are not necessarily anti-religious but are those skeptical of a specific or all religious beliefs or practices. Some are deists, believing...
, secular humanism
Secular humanism
Secular Humanism, alternatively known as Humanism , is a secular philosophy that embraces human reason, ethics, justice, and the search for human fulfillment...
or general secularist
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
attitudes in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Mexico was born after its independence as a confessional state
Confessional state
A confessional state is a state which officially practices a particular religion, and at least encourages its citizens to do likewise.Over human history, most states have been confessional states; the idea of religious pluralism in modern terms is relatively recent, and until the beginning of the...
. The first Mexican constitution
1824 Constitution of Mexico
The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1824 was enacted on October 4 of 1824, after the overthrow of the Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide. In the new constitution, the republic took the name of United Mexican States, and was defined as a representative federal republic, with...
was enacted in 1824, it stated that the religion of the nation is and will perpetually be the Roman Catholic Apostolic, and prohibited any other religion
Confessional state
A confessional state is a state which officially practices a particular religion, and at least encourages its citizens to do likewise.Over human history, most states have been confessional states; the idea of religious pluralism in modern terms is relatively recent, and until the beginning of the...
. Since 1857, the country has no official religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and some anti-clerical laws contained in both the 1857 and 1917
Constitution of Mexico
The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in the State of Querétaro, by a constitutional convention, during the Mexican Revolution. It was approved by the Constitutional Congress on February 5, 1917...
Constitutions imposed severe limitations on religious organizations and sometimes codified state intrusion into religious matters.
A 1992 constitutional amendment lifted most restrictions, granting all religious groups legal status, conceding them limited property rights, granting voting rights to religious ministers and lifting restrictions on the number of priests in the country. However, religious ministers cannot be elected to public office, the government does not provide any financial contributions to religious organizations and they can not participate in public education.
Although historically the Catholic Church has dominated the religious landscape of the country, according to the Catholic News Agency
Catholic News Agency
The Catholic News Agency is a provider of news related to Catholicism to an English speaking audience worldwide. It is headquartered in Denver, Colorado....
, there is a growing community of atheists and non-religious people.
Religion and Politics
Cultural identity
Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. Cultural identity is similar to and has overlaps with, but is not synonymous with, identity politics....
. The article 3 of first Mexican constitution of 1824
1824 Constitution of Mexico
The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1824 was enacted on October 4 of 1824, after the overthrow of the Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide. In the new constitution, the republic took the name of United Mexican States, and was defined as a representative federal republic, with...
stated for example that: The Religion of the Mexican Nation, is, and will be perpetually, the Roman Catholic Apostolic. The Nation will protect it by wise and just laws, and prohibit the exercise of any other whatever.
However, during the middle of the 19th century there were many reforms in regards of the Church power on political matters. The current status of religious freedom reflects the historic tensions between the Catholic Church and the modern State. For most of the country's nearly 300 years as a Spanish colony, the Catholic Church involved itself heavily in politics. In the early national period, the Church's vast wealth and political influence spurred a powerful anti-clerical movement, which found political expression in the Liberal party
Liberal Party
Liberal Party is the name for dozens of political parties around the world. Liberal parties can be center-left, centrist, or center-right depending on their location...
. The Catholic Church supported rebel Conservatives in the mid-19th century and later welcomed the country's occupation by a French army. Robert Haberman
Robert Haberman
Robert Haberman was an Romanian-American socialist lawyer and left-wing activist who lived most of his life in Mexico City and Yucatán working as the head of the Foreign Language Department of the Ministry of Education.. He helped introduce important socialist reforms to the Yucatán Peninsula.-...
of the Mexican Labour Party writes:
"By the year 1854, The Church gained possession of about two-thirds of all the lands of Mexico, almost every bank, and every large businessBusinessA business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
. The rest of the country was mortgaged to the Church. Then came the revolution of 1854, led by Benito JuárezBenito JuárezBenito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
. It culminated in the Constitution of 1857, which secularised the schools and confiscated Church property. All the churches were nationalised, many of them were turned into schools, hospitals, and orphan asylums. Civil marriageCivil marriageCivil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...
s were obligatory. Pope Pius IXPope Pius IXBlessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
immediately issued a mandate against the Constitution and called upon all Catholics of Mexico to disobey it. Ever since then, the clergyClergyClergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
has been fighting to regain its lost temporal power and wealth."
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
earned the Church the enmity of the victors in the Mexican Revolution. Consequently, severe restrictions on the Church were written into the country's present constitution, the Constitution of 1917. This constitution is the first one in the world to set out social rights, serving as a model for the Weimar Constitution of 1919 and the Russian Constitution of 1918. Nevertheless, like the Spanish Constitution of 1931
Spanish Constitution of 1931
The Spanish Constitution of 1931 meant the beginning of the Second Spanish Republic, the second period of Spanish history to date in which the election of both the positions of Head of State and Head of government were democratic. It was effective from 1931 until 1939...
, it has been characterized as being hostile to religion. The 1917 Constitution outlawed teaching by clergy even in private schools, gave control over Church matters to the state, put all Church property at the disposal of the state, outlawed religious orders, outlawed foreign born priests, gave states the power to limit or eliminate priests in their territory, deprived priests of the civil rights to vote or hold office, prohibited Catholic organizations which advocated public policy, prohibited religious publications from commenting on public policy, prohibited clergy from religious celebrations and from wearing clerical garb outside of a church and deprived citizens of the right to a trial for violations of these provisions. The anticlerical resolutions above were included in the Mexican Constitution of 1917 as a consequence of the support given by the High Mexican Catholic Clergy to the dictatorship of Victoriano Huerta
Victoriano Huerta
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution...
.
The Federal Government's attempt to enforce the restrictions of the 1917 Constitution in the 1920s
1920s
File:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...
led to violent repression and an open revolt by Catholic peasants in the Cristero Rebellion (1926–29). Tensions between the Church and the State eased after 1940, but constitutional restrictions were maintained even as enforcement became progressively lax over the ensuing decades. The Government established diplomatic relations with the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
during the administration of President Carlos Salinas
Carlos Salinas
Carlos Salinas de Gortari is a Mexican economist and politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party who served as President of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Earlier in his career he worked in the Budget Secretariat all the way up to Secretary...
, and the Government lifted almost all restrictions on the Catholic Church in 1992. That year the Government ratified its informal policy of not enforcing most legal controls on religious groups by, among other things, granting religious groups legal status, conceding them limited property rights, and lifting restrictions on the number of priests in the country. However, the law continues to mandate strict restrictions on the church and bars the clergy from holding public office, advocating partisan political views, supporting political candidates, or opposing the laws or institutions of the State. The Church's ability to own and operate mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
is also limited. Indeed, after the creation of the Constitution the Catholic Church has been acutely hostile towards the Mexican government. As Laura Randall in his book Changing Structure of Mexico points out, most of the conflicts between citizens and religious leaders lie in the Church's overwhelming lack of understanding of the role of the state's laicism. "The inability of the Mexican Catholic Episcopate to understand the modern world translates into a distorted conception of the secular world and the lay state. Evidently, perceiving the state as anti-religious (or rather, anti-clerical) is the result of nineteenth-century struggles that imbued the state with anti-religious and anti-clerical tinges in Latin American countries, much to the Catholic Church's chagrin. Defining laicist education as a 'secular religion' that is also 'imposed and intolerant' is the clearest evidence of episcopal intransigence." Others, however see the Mexican state's anticlericalism differently. Recent President Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
stated, "After 1917, Mexico was led by anti-Catholic Freemasons who tried to evoke the anticlerical spirit of popular indigenous President Benito Juarez of the 1880s. But the military dictators of the 1920s were a more savage lot than Juarez." Fox goes on to recount how priests were killed for trying to perform the sacraments, altars were desecrated by soldiers and freedom of religion outlawed by generals.
Demographics
As many students of Latin American religion have pointed out, it is substantially different to describe oneself as religious or culturally religious and to practice one's faithFaith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
literally. In the case of Mexico the decline of religious influence of the Church is specially mirrored by the decline of church attendance among its citizens. Church attendance itself is a complex, multi-layered phenomenon that is subject to political and socio-economic factors. From 1940 to 1960 about 70% of Mexican Catholics attended church weekly while in 1982 only 54 percent partook of Mass once a week or more, and 21 percent claimed monthly attendance. Recent surveys have shown that only around 3% of Catholics attend church daily and, according to INEGI, the number of atheists grows annually by 5.2%, while the number of Catholics grows by 1.7%.
Timeline of events related to atheism or anti-clericalism in Mexico
- 1824 - Mexico is born after its independence as a confessional state. The first Mexican constitution1824 Constitution of MexicoThe Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1824 was enacted on October 4 of 1824, after the overthrow of the Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide. In the new constitution, the republic took the name of United Mexican States, and was defined as a representative federal republic, with...
was enacted in 1824, it stated in the article 3 that the religion of the nation is and will perpetually be the Roman Catholic Apostolic, and prohibited any other religionConfessional stateA confessional state is a state which officially practices a particular religion, and at least encourages its citizens to do likewise.Over human history, most states have been confessional states; the idea of religious pluralism in modern terms is relatively recent, and until the beginning of the...
.
- 1831 - Vicente RocafuerteVicente RocafuerteVicente Rocafuerte y Bejarano was an influential figure in Ecuadorian politics and President of Ecuador from September 10, 1834 to January 31, 1839....
was arrested in Mexico for publishing an Essay on Religious Toleration. He was accused of violating Article 3 of the constitution, which stated that Mexico was a confessional stateConfessional stateA confessional state is a state which officially practices a particular religion, and at least encourages its citizens to do likewise.Over human history, most states have been confessional states; the idea of religious pluralism in modern terms is relatively recent, and until the beginning of the...
.
- 1844 - Ignacio RamírezIgnacio RamírezJuan Ignacio Paulino Ramírez Calzada was a Mexican writer, poet, journalist, lawyer, atheist, and political libertarian from San Miguel de Allende who used the pen name, El Nigromante . He defended the rights of Indians...
"El Nigromante" wrote "There is no God: natural beings support themselves", causing several controversies throughout the country.
- 1855 - The Ley JuárezBenito JuárezBenito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
(Juárez's Law) of 1855, abolished special clerical and military privileges, and declared all citizens equal before the law.
- 1857 - LiberalLiberalismLiberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
Constitution of 1857 drafted during the presidency of Ignacio ComonfortIgnacio ComonfortIgnacio Gregorio Comonfort de los Ríos was a Mexican politician and military officer who served as President of Mexico....
granting basic civil libertiesCivil libertiesCivil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
for all Mexicans: freedom of speechFreedom of speechFreedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, freedom of conscience, secularised educationSecular educationSecular education is the system of public education in countries with a secular government or separation between religion and state.An example of a highly secular educational system would be the French public educational system, going as far as to ban conspicuous religious symbols in schools.In...
and suppression of the Church power.
- 1906 - Flores MagónFlores MagónFlores Magón is a Mexican surname.People with the surname Flores Magón include the trio of Mexican anarchist brothers:*Ricardo Flores Magón *Jesús Flores Magón *Enrique Flores Magón...
published his Manifesto to the Nation, The Plan of the Mexican Liberal Party declaring: "The clergyClergyClergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
, this unrepentant traitor, this subject of RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, this irreconcilable enemy of native liberties, in place of finding tyrants to serve and from whom to receive protection, will find instead inflexible laws which will put a limit on their excesses and which will confine them to the religious sphere."
- 1917 - The 1917 Constitution of Mexico is the first one in the world to set out social rights, serving as a model for the Weimar ConstitutionWeimar constitutionThe Constitution of the German Reich , usually known as the Weimar Constitution was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic...
of 1919 and the Russian Constitution of 1918. Articles 3, 5, 24, 27, and 130, as originally formulated, seriously restricted religious freedoms. These anticlerical resolutions were included in the Mexican Constitution as a consequence of the support given by the High Mexican Catholic Clergy to the dictatorship of Victoriano HuertaVictoriano HuertaJosé Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution...
.
- 1924 - Election of atheist Plutarco Elías CallesPlutarco Elías CallesPlutarco Elías Calles was a Mexican general and politician. He was president of Mexico from 1924 to 1928, but he continued to be the de facto ruler from 1928–1935, a period known as the maximato...
. Calles applied anti-clerical laws throughout the country and added his own anti-clerical legislationCalles LawThe Calles' Law, or Law for Reforming the Penal Code, was a reform of the penal code in Mexico under the presidency of Plutarco Elias Calles. The code reinforced strong restrictions against clerics and the Catholic Church put forth under Article 130 of the Mexican Constitution of 1917. Article 130...
.
- 1926 - In June 1926, Elías Calles signed the "Law for Reforming the Penal Code", known unofficially as the Calles LawCalles LawThe Calles' Law, or Law for Reforming the Penal Code, was a reform of the penal code in Mexico under the presidency of Plutarco Elias Calles. The code reinforced strong restrictions against clerics and the Catholic Church put forth under Article 130 of the Mexican Constitution of 1917. Article 130...
. This provided specific penalties for priests and individuals who violated the provisions of the 1917 Constitution.
- 1926 - On November 18, 1926, the Pope issues the encyclical Iniquis AfflictisqueIniquis AfflictisqueIniquis Afflictisque is an encyclical of Pope Pius XI promulgated on November 18, 1926, to denounce the persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico. It was one of three encyclicals concerning Mexico, including Acerba Animi and Firmissimam Constantiamque...
(On the Persecution of the Church in Mexico). The Pope criticized the state's interference in matters of worship, outlawing of religious orders and the expropriationConfiscationConfiscation, from the Latin confiscatio 'joining to the fiscus, i.e. transfer to the treasury' is a legal seizure without compensation by a government or other public authority...
of Church property. Alluding to the deprivation of the right to vote and of free speech, among other things, he noted that, "Priests are ... deprived of all civil and political rights. They are thus placed in the same class with criminals and the insane."
- 1927 - Cristero uprising.
- 1927 - November 23, 1927, Miguel ProMiguel ProMiguel Agustín Pro Juárez , also known as Blessed Miguel Pro, was a Mexican Jesuit priest, executed without trial during the persecution of the Catholic Church under the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles after trumped up charges of involvement in an assassination attempt against former President...
, SJ is killed after being convicted, without trial, on trumped-up charges of conspiring to kill President Obregon. Calles' government carefully documented execution by photograph hoping to use images to scare Cristero rebels into surrender, but the photos had the opposite effect.
- 1927 - September 29, 1932 Pope Pius XI issued a second encyclical on the persecution, Acerba AnimiAcerba AnimiAcerba Anima is an encyclical of Pope Pius XI promulgated on September, 29, 1932, to denounce the continued persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico. It was the second of three encyclicals concerning persecution Mexico, including Iniquis Afflictisque and Firmissimam Constantiamque...
.
- 1928 - July 17, 1928 the Mexican elected president Álvaro ObregónÁlvaro ObregónGeneral Álvaro Obregón Salido was the President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. He was assassinated in 1928, shortly after winning election to another presidential term....
is assassinated by José de León ToralJosé de León ToralJosé de León Toral , December 23, 1900 - Mexico City, February 9, 1929) was a Roman Catholic militant who assassinated general Álvaro Obregón, president elect of Mexico in 1928....
, a Roman Catholic militant who was afraid that Obregón would continue with Calles anti-clerical agenda.
- 1934 - There were 4,500 priests serving the people before the rebellion, in 1934 there were only 334 priests licensed by the government to serve fifteen million people, the rest having been eliminated by emigration, expulsion and assassination.
- 1934 - Between 1926 and 1934 at least 40 priests were killed.
- 1935 - By 1935, 17 states had no priest at all.
- 1937 - The Pope issues the third encyclical on the persecution of the Mexican Church, Firmissimam Constantiamque.
- 1940 - Between 1931 and 1940 at least 223 rural teacher were assassinated by the Cristeros and other Catholic armed groups, because of their atheist and socialist education.
- 1940 - By 1940 the Church had "legally had no corporate existence, no real estate, no schools, no monasteries or convents, no foreign priests, no right to defend itself publicly or in the courts, and no hope that its legal and actual situations would improve. Its clergy were forbidden to wear clerical garb, to vote, to celebrate public religious ceremonies, and to engage in politics", but the restrictions were not always enforced.
- 1940 - Manuel Ávila CamachoManuel Ávila CamachoManuel Ávila Camacho served as the President of Mexico from 1940 to 1946.Manuel Ávila was born in the city of Teziutlán, a small town in Puebla, to middle-class parents, Manuel Ávila Castillo and Eufrosina Camacho Bello. He had several siblings, among them sister María Jovita Ávila Camacho and...
, a professed religious believer, becomes President. This was a change from his predecessors in the first half of the twentieth century who had been strongly anticlerical. His open profession of faith was politically dangerous as it risked the ire of Mexican anticlericals.
- 1940 - By 1940 open hostility toward the Church began to cease with the election of President Ávila (1940–46), who agreed, in exchange for the Church's efforts to maintain peace, to nonenforcement of most of the anticlerical provisions, an exception being Article 130, Section 9, which deprived the Church of the right of political speechFreedom of speechFreedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, priests of the right to vote, and the right of free political associationFreedom of associationFreedom of association is the individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests....
.
- 1948 - In June 1948 Diego RiveraDiego RiveraDiego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
painted the mural Dreams of a Sunday in the Alameda at the Del Prado Hotel depicting Ignacio Ramírez holding a sign reading, "God does not exist". Rivera would not remove the inscription, so the mural was not shown for 9 years – after Rivera agreed to remove the words. He stated: "To affirm 'God does not exist', I do not have to hide behind Don Ignacio Ramírez; I am an atheist and I consider religions to be a form of collective neurosisNeurosisNeurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations, whereby behavior is not outside socially acceptable norms. It is also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, and thus those suffering from it are said to be neurotic...
. I am not an enemy of the CatholicCatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
s, as I am not an enemy of the tuberculars, the myopic or the paralytics; you cannot be an enemy of the sick, only their good friend in order to help them cure themselves." The Publicity in the newspapers had been riot-provoking, and Rivera's stand - "I will not remove one letter from it" - brought forth a mob of some thirty persons who vandalised everything in their path. They further violated the mural by defecating the self-portraitSelf-portraitA self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 15th century that artists can be frequently identified depicting...
of Rivera as a young boy. On that very night, not far from the Hotel, Rivera, along with Mexico's leading artists and intellectuals, was attending a dinner honouring the director of the Museum of Fine Art. When the word arrived about the attack on Rivera's mural, it caused a stir in the audience. David Alfaro SiqueirosDavid Alfaro SiqueirosJosé David Alfaro Siqueiros was a social realist painter, known for his large murals in fresco that helped establish the Mexican Mural Renaissance, together with works by Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, and also a member of the Mexican Communist Party who participated in an...
exhorted the guests to go to the Del Prado Hotel and, arm-in-arm with José Clemente OrozcoJosé Clemente OrozcoJosé Clemente Orozco was a Mexican social realist painter, who specialized in bold murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and others...
and Dr. AtlDr. AtlGerardo Murillo was a Mexican painter and writer who signed his works "Dr. Atl". He was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, where he began the study of painting at an early age, under Felipe Castro...
, marched at the head of 100 people. Among them were Frida KahloFrida KahloFrida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....
, Juan O'GormanJuan O'GormanJuan O'Gorman was a Mexican painter and architect.-Biography:O'Gorman was born in Coyoacán, then a village to the south of Mexico City and now a borough of the Federal District, to an Irish father, Cecil Crawford O'Gorman and a Mexican mother...
, Raul AnguianoRaúl AnguianoJosé Raúl Anguiano Valadez was a Mexican critical realist painter, draftsman, muralist, and engraver, as well as a member of the second generation of the so-called "Mexican School of Painting" in Mexican art, along with Juan O'Gorman, Judith Gutierrez, Jorge González Camarena, José Chávez Morado,...
y José RevueltasJosé RevueltasJosé Revueltas Sánchez was a Mexican writer, essayist, and political activist. He was part of an important artistic family that included his siblings Silvestre , Fermín and Rosaura .-Life:He was often imprisoned for his political activism, almost from the time he was a boy...
. When they arrived Rivera climbed on a chair, asked for a pencil and calmly began to restore the destroyed inscription: "God does not exist".
- 1979 - Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul IIBlessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
visits Mexico and violates Mexican anticlerical laws by appearing in public wearing clerical garb and by engaging in public religious observances; some anticlericals objected to the violation of the law and President Jose Lopez PortilloJosé López PortilloJosé López Portillo y Pacheco was the President of Mexico from 1976 to 1982.Born in Mexico City, López Portillo studied Law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico before beginning his political career with the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 1959.He held several positions in the...
himself offered to pay the 50 pesos fine.
- 1992 - Publication of RiusRiusEduardo del Río is a famous Mexican intellectual, political cartoonist and writer born in Zamora, Michoacán....
' illustrated book 500 years screwed but Christian500 years screwed but Christian500 years screwed but Christian is a 1992 illustrated book by Mexican cartoonist and writer Rius which was published by Grijalbo. The book is a sharp criticism of the Spanish conquest, the Catholic Church, and the current condition of the indigenous people of Latin America who still are victims of...
, a book critical of the Spanish conquerorConquerorConqueror may refer to:* Conqueror , 2007* Conqueror , 2008* Conqueror tank, a British post-World War II heavy tank* HMS Conqueror, the name of some British ships* Konqueror, a web browser and file manager...
s, the Catholic Church and its effects on Mexican society.
- 2008 - On 28 September 2008 the First Global Atheist March for a Secular Society was held in Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
and GuadalajaraGuadalajaraGuadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...
as a part of a series of global protests that call for the civil rightsCivil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
of atheists and non-religious people.
- 2009 - On Saturday 26 June 2009 during a meeting celebrating the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit TraffickingInternational Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit TraffickingThe International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is a United Nations International Day against drug abuse and the illegal drug trade. It has been held annually since 1988 on 26 June, a date chosen to commemorate Lin Zexu's dismantling of the opium trade in Humen, Guangdong, just...
president Felipe CalderónFelipe CalderónFelipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
stated that atheismAtheismAtheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
and irreligionIrreligionIrreligion is defined as an absence of religion or an indifference towards religion. Sometimes it may also be defined more narrowly as hostility towards religion. When characterized as hostility to religion, it includes antitheism, anticlericalism and antireligion. When characterized as...
render the youth criminals and leave them at the mercy of drug traffickers. His statement was prompted by a previous opinion on the death of Michael JacksonDeath of Michael JacksonOn June 25, 2009, American singer Michael Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication after he suffered a respiratory arrest at his home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles. His personal physician, Conrad Murray, said he found Jackson in his room, not breathing, but with a faint pulse,...
. Before the results of the singer's autopsy, Calderón claimed that Jackson's death was due to his purported abuse of drugs and his lack of faithFaithFaith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
. According to him, the lack of religionReligionReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and union with GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
fosters addictionsSubstance dependenceThe section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
and crimeCrimeCrime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
among young people. A letter from a community of Mexican atheists was submitted to La JornadaLa JornadaLa Jornada is one of Mexico City's leading daily newspapers. It was established in 1984 by Carlos Payán Velver. The current editor is Carmen Lira Saade...
newspaper as a counter-attack to the allegations against non-religious people, claiming that the president's position was a crystal-clear example of discrimination against minorities in the country.
- 2009 - Mexico City played host to international symposium on religious freedom in Latin America sponsored by the Knights of ColumbusKnights of ColumbusThe Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....
, the first time such an event has occurred in Mexico City. Sociologist Jorge Trasloheros noted that many powerful Mexicans see religion not as "the opium of the masses", but as "the tobacco of the masses"—a bad habit to be banned from the public arena. Supreme Knight Carl Anderson denounced this idea still commonly held in Mexico that "religious beliefs are not welcome in the public square, or worse are not allowed in the public square".
- 2010 - In March 2010, the lower house of the Mexican legislature introduced legislation to amend the Constitution to make the Mexican government formally "laico"LaïcitéFrench secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...
—meaning "lay" or "secular". Critics of the move say the "context surrounding the amendment suggests that it might be a step backwards for religious liberty and true separation of church and state". Coming on the heels of the Church's vocal objection to legalization of abortion as well as same sex unions and adoptions in Mexico City, "together with some statements of its supporters, suggests that it might be an attempt to suppress the Catholic Church's ability to engage in public policy debates". Critics of the amendment reject the idea that "Utilitarians, Nihilists, Capitalists, and Socialists can all bring their philosophy to bear on public life, but Catholics (or other religious minorities) must check their religion at the door" in a sort of "second-class citizenship" which they consider nothing more than religious discrimination.
Mexican atheists and agnostics
- Guillermo ArriagaGuillermo ArriagaGuillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of...
, screenwriter and novelist - Hector AvalosHector AvalosHector Avalos is a professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State University and the author of several books about religion...
, religion researcher - Narciso BassolsNarciso BassolsNarciso Bassols García was a Mexican lawyer, socialist politician, ambassador to France, Russia, and the United Kingdom, and professor of law at the National University of Mexico. He co-founded the Popular Party , and the League of Political Action...
, co-founded the Popular Party - Luis BuñuelLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
, Spanish-Mexican filmmaker - Plutarco Elías CallesPlutarco Elías CallesPlutarco Elías Calles was a Mexican general and politician. He was president of Mexico from 1924 to 1928, but he continued to be the de facto ruler from 1928–1935, a period known as the maximato...
, president (1924–1928) - Leonora CarringtonLeonora CarringtonLeonora Carrington OBE was a British-born Mexican artist, a surrealist painter and a novelist. She lived most of her life in Mexico City.-Early life:...
, artist - Ricardo Flores MagónRicardo Flores MagónCipriano Ricardo Flores Magón was a noted Mexican anarchist and social reform activist. His brothers Enrique and Jesús were also active in politics. Followers of the Magón brothers were known as Magonistas....
, anarchist - Carlos FrenkCarlos FrenkProfessor Carlos Silvestre Frenk is a Mexican-British cosmologist. His main interests lie in the field of cosmology, galaxy formation and computer simulations of cosmic structure formation....
, cosmologist - Gael García BernalGael García BernalGael García Bernal is a Mexican film actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Ángel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was...
, actor - Tomás Garrido CanabalTomás Garrido CanabalTomás Garrido Canabal , was a Mexican politician and revolutionary. Garrido Canabal served as dictator and governor of the state of Tabasco from 1920 to 1924 and again from 1931 to 1934, and was particularly noted for his anti-Catholic persecution...
, politician - Frida KahloFrida KahloFrida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....
, painter - Guillermo KahloGuillermo KahloCarl Wilhelm Kahlo was a German photographer and father of artist Frida Kahlo, who painted his portrait....
- Manuel de LandaManuel de LandaManuel De Landa, , is a writer, artist and philosopher who has lived in New York since 1975. He is presently the Gilles Deleuze Chair of Contemporary Philosophy and Science at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland; a lecturer at the Canisius College in Buffalo, New York; a lecturer...
, philosopher and artist - Germán List ArzubideGermán List ArzubideGermán List Arzubide was a Mexican poet and revolutionary.Born in Puebla, he was an active participant in the Revolution, fighting alongside Emiliano Zapata as well as extolling him and other revolutionary leaders in his poetry...
, poet and revolutionary - Carlos A. MadrazoCarlos A. MadrazoCarlos Alberto Madrazo Becerra was a reformist Mexican politician.Madrazo was born on the ranchería of Parrilla, in the state of Tabasco, to Píoquinto Madrazo López, a businessman, and Concepción Becerra, a schoolteacher. His childhood was marked by poverty, but his mother taught him the will to...
, politician - Subcomandante MarcosSubcomandante MarcosSubcomandante Marcos is the spokesperson for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation , a Mexican rebel movement. In January 1994, he led an army of Mayan farmers into the eastern parts of the Mexican state of Chiapas protesting against the Mexican government's treatment of indigenous...
, activist - Juan O'GormanJuan O'GormanJuan O'Gorman was a Mexican painter and architect.-Biography:O'Gorman was born in Coyoacán, then a village to the south of Mexico City and now a borough of the Federal District, to an Irish father, Cecil Crawford O'Gorman and a Mexican mother...
, artist - Ignacio RamírezIgnacio RamírezJuan Ignacio Paulino Ramírez Calzada was a Mexican writer, poet, journalist, lawyer, atheist, and political libertarian from San Miguel de Allende who used the pen name, El Nigromante . He defended the rights of Indians...
, "El Nigromante" also known as the Voltaire of Mexico - RiusRiusEduardo del Río is a famous Mexican intellectual, political cartoonist and writer born in Zamora, Michoacán....
, cartoonist and highly critical of the Catholic Church - Diego RiveraDiego RiveraDiego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
, muralist and Marxist - Jesus Silva-Herzog Márquez, economist
- Remedios VaroRemedios VaroRemedios Varo Uranga was a Spanish-Mexican, para-surrealist painter and anarchist. She was born María de los Remedios Varo Uranga in Anglès, Girona, Spain in 1908. During the Spanish Civil War she fled to Paris where she was greatly influenced by the surrealist movement...
, Spanish-Mexican surrealist artist - Fernando VallejoFernando VallejoFernando Vallejo Rendón is a novelist, filmmaker and essayist, born in Colombia. He obtained Mexican nationality in 2007.Vallejo was born and raised in Medellín, though he left his hometown early in life...
, Colombian-Mexican writer - Jorge VolpiJorge VolpiJorge Luis Volpi Escalante is a Mexican author best known for his 1999 novel En busca de Klingsor. Volpi was born in Mexico City. He studied law and literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and received a PhD in Spanish philology at the University of Salamanca in Spain...
, author