Mexico has no official
religion, and the
Constitution of 1917 and the
anti-clerical laws imposed limitations on the church and sometimes codified state intrusion into church matters. The government does not provide any financial contributions to the church, and the church does not participate in public education. However,
Christmas is a national holiday and every year during
Easter all schools in Mexico, public and private, send their students on vacation.
In 1992, Mexico lifted almost all restrictions on the religions, including granting all religious groups legal status, conceding them limited property rights, and lifting restrictions on the number of priests in the country.[1] Until recently, priests did not have the right to vote, and even now they cannot be elected to public office.
While most indigenous Mexicans are Catholic, at least nominally, some combine or syncretize Catholic practices with native traditions. In the Yucatán Peninsula, some Mayan people still practice the traditional beliefs of their ancestors, without being syncretized with Christianity; the same happens with the Wixarika people of Jalisco and Nayarit.
About 6% of the population (more than 4.4 million people) are Protestant,[2] of whom Pentecostals and Charismatics (called Neo-Pentecostals in the census), are the largest group.