Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
In Mexico, religious freedom is constitutionally guaranteed, and its exercise is regulated by the Law on Religious Associations and Public Worship (Ley de Asociaciones Religiosas y Culto Público, LARCP).
Article 24 of the Mexican constitution refers to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It states: “Every person has the right to have freedom of ethical convictions, of conscience and of religion, and to have or to adopt, as the case may be, the one of” their “preference. Such freedom includes the right to participate, individually or collectively, in both public and private ceremonies, worship or religious acts of the respective cult, as long as they are not a felony or a misdemeanour punished by law.” Article 1 of the LARCP clarifies that in religious beliefs no one is “exempt in any case from compliance with the laws of the country”.
Article 1 of the constitution reiterates these freedoms by establishing that all government authorities have an obligation to promote, respect, protect and guarantee human rights. At the same time Article 24 adds that “Congress cannot dictate laws that establish or abolish any given religion.”
Article 1 also bans discrimination on grounds of ethnic or national origin, gender, age, disabilities, social condition, health, religion, opinions, sexual preferences, marital status or any other factor that might infringe upon human dignity.
The Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination defines as discriminatory any attempt to limit the free expression of ideas, as well as any action designed to place obstacles to freedom of thought, conscience or religion and to religious practices or customs, provided that the latter do not violate public order. In May 2022, an amendment defined what is meant by discrimination.
For its part, the LARCP regulates various aspects of the life of religious associations, such as their nature, constitution and functioning (Articles 6-10), relations with associates, religious ministers and representatives (Articles 11-15), the property regime (Articles 16-20), religious acts of public worship (Articles 21-24) and the relations of the authorities with religious associations and their activity (Articles 25-28), in addition to infringements of the Law and corresponding sanctions (Articles 29-36).
Article 130 of the constitution sets out the separation between State and Church, which is reiterated in Articles 1 and 3 of the LARCP. This principle of separation also extends to public education, which is mandatory under Article 3 (I) of the constitution to “be maintained entirely apart from any religious doctrine.”
To avoid state interference, the authorities are constitutionally banned from intervening in the internal affairs of religious associations (Article 130, b), as well as in individual or collective religious events, except when necessary to guarantee compliance “with the Constitution, International Treaties ratified by Mexico and other applicable legislation and the protection of the rights of third parties” (Article 3, LARCP).
Likewise, federal, state and municipal officials “may not officially attend any religious act of public worship, or activity that has similar motives or purposes,” except in case of diplomatic practices (Article 25, LARCP).
With respect to the independence of the state vis-à-vis religions, Article 24 of the constitution states: “No person is allowed to use these public acts of religious expression for political ends, for campaigning or as a tool of political propaganda.” Article 130 (c and d) of the constitution bans members of the clergy from holding elected office.
This general prohibition is consistent with Articles 55 (VI) and 58 of the constitution, which exclude members of the clergy from becoming federal deputies or senators. Article 82 (IV) prohibits the president of Mexico from being a minister of religion.
The ban is reiterated by LARCP, according to which members of the clergy cannot hold public office, although "they have the right to vote under the terms of applicable electoral legislation" (Article 14).
Like the constitution (Article 130, e), LARCP (Article 29, X) includes more constitutional prohibitions that affect the separation of Church and State, most notably the ban on members of the clergy from associating with one another for political purposes, engaging in propaganda for or against any candidate, party or political association, or opposing “the laws of the country or its institutions in public meetings".
Similarly, religious associations and members of the clergy may not own or administer telecommunications concessions, except for printed publications of a religious nature (Article 16, LARCP).
In addition, Article 130 (a) of the constitution specifies that only registered Churches and religious groups have legal personality. Article 7 of LARCP sets out the conditions and requirements that must be met for this purpose. These requirements (see Article 7 of the LARCP) are as follows: “Anyone applying to register a religious association must prove that the church or religious group: 1. Is involved primarily in the observance, practice , propagation, and teaching of a religious doctrine or body of religious beliefs; 2. has carried out religious activities in the Mexican Republic for a minimum of five (5) years and has well-known roots in the population, in addition to having its domicile in the Republic; 3. has sufficient assets to fulfil its purpose; 4. has statutes in terms of the second paragraph of Article 6; and, 5. has complied, where appropriate, with the provisions of sections I and II of Article 27 of the Constitution.
Once constituted, religious associations have the right to an exclusive name, to establish their internal structures of governance and operation, to celebrate acts of public worship and disseminate their doctrine, as well as establish and run welfare, educational and health facilities, provided they are not for profit (Article 9 LARCP).
Article 27 (II) of the constitution also recognises the capacity of validly constituted religious associations to acquire, own or administer property. However, like the constitution (Article 130), LARCP (Article 15) denies members of the clergy the right to inherit by will from persons whom they "have spiritually directed or assisted and are not fourth-degree relatives”.
Generally, acts of public worship must be carried out in places of worship, or in other places under special circumstances (Article 24 of the constitution and Article 21 of LARCP), on condition of prior communication with the competent authorities at least 15 days before the date they are held. The latter can only ban them “on grounds of safety and protection of health, morality, noise and public order, or to protect the rights of third parties" (Article 22, LARCP).
In April 2022, a bill was presented to amend LARCP (Law on Religious Associations and Public Worship) in order to modify the procedures of authorisation for special acts of worship outside places of worship.
Special mention should be made of freedom of conscience, which is covered by Article 24 of the constitution, as it applies to healthcare. Article 10 (bis) of the General Health Law grants medical and nursing staff employed in the National Health Service the right to conscientious objection, adding that conscientious objection cannot be a motive for workplace discrimination.
However, in September 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice struck down Article 10 (Bis), ruling because it does not establish the necessary limits to ensure that conscientious objection can be exercised without jeopardising the human rights of others, especially the right to health. In light of this, the Court urged Congress to regulate conscientious objection.
Incidents and developments
Deaths of members of the clergy
According to news outlet La Lista and the Centro Católico Multimedial, at least seven priests were killed between December 2018 and June 2022.
In March 2021, after he went missing, Fr Gumersindo Cortés was found dead with signs of violence. In June, Fr Juan Antonio Orozco, who was on his way to celebrate Mass, was killed in a shootout between drug gangs over territory.
In April, Simón Pedro Pérez López, an indigenous catechist was murdered; he had testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) denouncing Mexican authorities for their responsibility in the Acteal massacre of 1997. With others, the catechist had drafted a strongly worded letter explaining how communities lived besieged by armed traffickers that enjoyed the complicity of state and municipal police. The local diocese also spoke out against the situation, urging the authorities to protect the population.
In August, according to police sources, Fr José Guadalupe Popoca was gunned down in his church in Morelos.
In May 2022, the body of Fr José Guadalupe Rivas, director of the Casa del Migrante, was found in Baja California.
In June, two Jesuit priests were killed execution style inside a church in Chihuahua while trying to help a man escape from gunmen. Three months later, the president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious of Mexico denounced the slowness of the investigations and the failure to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Threats
In July 2021, a member of the House of Deputies reported death threats, as well as political and legal harassment for her stance in defence of life and the family.
In September 2021, in Hidalgo, two Christian families were threatened to have their water service cut off for worshipping in their homes.24
In June 2022, Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega, Archbishop of Guadalajara, complained that in parishes in northern Jalisco, local pastors had to get permission from drug traffickers to hold patron saint festivities and were obliged to turn over 50 percent of the collection.25 The prelate also reported that criminal gangs set up temporary “checkpoints” in the area, noting that he too was held up by one of these groups, and questioned about where he was coming from, where he was going, and for what purpose.25
Attacks, vandalism and desecration of places of worship
In 2021 and 2022, there were numerous desecrations, vandalism and attacks on churches and people.
In July26 and August 2021,27 the Eucharist was desecrated in three churches in Cuernavaca and Hermosillo. In December 2021, another tabernacle was desecrated in a church in Ciudad Juárez.28
In March 2022, various churches in Veracruz and Nuevo León were vandalised during International Women's Day marches.29 In April, an arson attack against Mexico City's Templo de Santa Catalina de Siena, which dates back to 1623, damaged the main doors, considered a cultural heritage.30
In June the Blessed Sacrament was desecrated in a parish church in Obregón, Jalisco.31 In July, a car stopped Fr Mateo Calvillo Paz as he travelled to Morelia, and its occupant beat the clergyman.32 That same month, armed men stopped Fr Felipe Vélez Jiménez as he was driving and shot him in the face, seriously injuring the clergyman.33
In August, over a period of few days, seven churches in Mexico City were the scene of robberies. Although none suffered material damage, faithful have reported being particularly affected by a sense of insecurity in places of worship.34
In September, unknown assailants attacked parishioners during a baptism in a Tijuana parish.35
An evangelical media outlet reporting on cases of forced displacement, suffered mainly by evangelicals in a majority Catholic environment, stated that more than 30,500 people were expelled from their homes in Chiapas between 1976 and 2016 because of religious intolerance. The last recorded case occurred in July 2022, when two families were forced to leave for not cooperating in the celebration of a Catholic holiday.37
Court rulings in matters of religious freedom
In June 2021, the Federal Electoral Tribunal ruled that a candidate had breached election rules by referring to religious symbols and expressions in the election material he posted on Facebook.38
In January 2022, in a subsequent ruling, the Court declared that postings by another candidate of obituaries and videos showing religious buildings did not break the law since they were not political propaganda.39
Also in January, two members of the clergy were convicted of political proselytising after they posted several videos on social media during the electoral campaign. The Electoral Tribunal40 found that their content encouraged people to vote for a certain political option, thus violating the constitutional principle of separation of Church and State.41 The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Mexico criticised this decision saying that it violated the freedom of expression of members of the clergy.42
State-Church relations
April 2022 marked the 30th anniversary of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Holy See. The Vatican’s Secretary Pietro Parolin visited the country for the occasion, taking the opportunity to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s willingness to work with the authorities in favour of social harmony and the common good. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard thanked the Church for its cooperation and support during the COVID-19 pandemic.43
The good working relationship did not prevent the Catholic Church from critical assessments of the country. For example, in June 2021, Pope Francis condemned the massacre of 15 people in Reynosa.44 Also in June, the bishops asked the governor of Hidalgo to veto the legalisation of abortion, which the state congress had authorised up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.45
On 5 September 2021, the bishops spoke in favour of life when Mexico’s Supreme Court considered the right to life and to conscientious objection, confident that the Court would grant protection to the unborn child, regardless of its stage of development, and that the right of medical staff to conscientious objection would be recognised as a fundamental right.46
On 21 September, Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) invalidated article 10 Bis of the General Health Law which had recognised conscientious objection in cases of abortion “for medical personnel and nurses, limiting it only when the patient's life is put at risk or it is an emergency”. Arturo Zaldívar, the president of the SCJN defended the decision stating the highest court gave “full effectiveness to the right to interrupt the pregnancy”, and indicated that the law “must establish the conditions and modalities so that conscientious objection does not interfere with the duties of availability in health matters, especially with the human rights of women”.
The Mexican Bishops' Conference called for a “march for women and life” and on 3 October over 300,000 marched in Mexico City “with more than 1 million total in associated marches across the country”.
In January 2022, faced with an unconstitutional action in relation to the right to life in the constitution of the State of Nuevo León, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Mexico issued a statement in which it again urged the Court to recognise the right to life from conception.47
In March 2022, Mexico’s Catholic bishops called on voters to be discerning when casting their ballot in President López Obrador’s presidential recall referendum.50
In May, media covered extensively the Supreme Court48 ruling allowing minors 12 years and older to have an abortion in case of rape, without parental permission and without prior criminal complaint. Pro-life groups severely criticised the decision.49
In June 2022 the bishops expressed their concern over the wave of violence sweeping across the country, urging the authorities to review their security strategy but also to engage in a countrywide dialogue to discuss the violence and impunity.51
Other incidents
In 2019, President López Obrador's administration distributed a moral primer,52 which, for some groups, was an attempt at religious indoctrination and a threat to the secular nature of the state.53 Following this, the Congress of the State of Michoacán issued an opinion in June 2021, calling on the president to respect the secular character of the Mexican state, though, refuting among other things, the opinion by concerned groups to the moral primer; its content did not imply any interference in the secular nature of the state because it did not refer to religious issues, but only to issues of a moral nature.54
In June 2021, the Congress of Baja California incorporated sanctions into its Penal Code for religious discrimination by public servants.55
During the period under review, different religious groups began working together for peace in Mexico. In June 2021, representatives of various Christian, Jewish and Islamic organisations gathered at the Old Basilica of Guadalupe.56 In July, Buddhist, Anglican, Lutheran, Islamic, Baptist and Jewish religious leaders joined the initiative launched by the Catholic Church to pray for peace and against violence in Mexico.57 That same month, Churches for Peace and other religious organisations held the so-called Pilgrimage for Life, Peace and Against Violence to express their rejection of violent acts in the country, including the murder of two Jesuit priests.58 In August, Catholic and Evangelical leaders agreed to joint actions for peace59 and in September representatives of different faiths prayed for peace.60
In May 2022, Mexican authorities took responsibility and publicly apologised for the Acteal massacre of 1997 following the amicable settlement reached at the IACHR.61
In June 2022, the Penal Code of the State of Aguascalientes was modified, to treat clerical status as an aggravating factor in cases of sexual crimes committed by people in position of authority vis-à-vis their charge.62
In July, the alleged leader of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, CJNG) posted a video on social media calling on cartels to respect priests, doctors and teachers, and leave them out of the war they were waging against each other.63
In August, the plan for preschool, primary and secondary education was announced. It reiterated the principle that education must be free from any religious creed. Religion or the spiritual dimension are barely mentioned in the educational process.64
That same month, Mexico’s Congress urged the Attorney General's Office to start proceedings against the Auxiliary Bishop of Morelia, Herculano Medina, for hate crime against sexual diversity over his comments about homosexuality and lesbianism.65
In September, some 15,000 people held a rally in Villahermosa in favour of life, religious freedom and children’s education.66
On 8-9 October 2022, more than a million people in 30 states marched for women, life, and peace, a year after the 3 October 2021 “march for women and life” called by the Catholic Bishops of Mexico following the Supreme Court of Justice decision to invalidate article 10 Bis of the General Health Law recognising conscientious objection in cases of abortion.
Prospects for freedom of religion
In Mexico violence against priests, places of worship, and faithful has continued to increase. This is due to several factors, such as drug cartels, organised crime, land disputes, corruption, extortion and revenge. Investigations into these violent acts have, for the most part, resulted in few convictions; as a result, communities fear the perpetrators will continue to enjoy impunity and that violence will continue apace.
Attacks on priests, which claimed five lives and injured several more in the period under review, seem not to be directly related to religious beliefs. Instead, they appear to be motivated by the clergymen’s pastoral work in defence of human rights, and by their speaking out against the harassment and abuse suffered by their communities.
Over the past two years, hate crimes against churches have noticeably increased as have acts of desecration in Catholic churches in different parts of the country.
Certain legal rulings are also cause for concern as they undermine elements of religious freedom, including, for example, the decision to strike down the provisions in the General Health Law allowing conscientious objection in cases of abortion.
Given that violence against priests and places of worship is not abating, and that court rulings are undermining fundamental rights, prospects for freedom of religion in Mexico are negative.
Mexico