Mexico’s bishops admit to losing the people

Monday, February 27th, 2023

The Mexican Catholic Church is facing a spiritual crisis, and the bishops admit they’re losing the people.

That’s the conclusion of the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) report on the synodal consultations that took place late last year in 75 of the Latin American country’s 79 dioceses.

The bishops acknowledged that they have listened “little or not at all” to isolated people, children, adolescents, young people, people living on the street, homosexuals, women who have been raped, businessmen and politicians, communicators and professionals in general.

Mexico is the second-largest Catholic country in the world, with an estimated 100 million members. However, the proportion of Catholics in the country has decreased steadily from 89.7% of the population in 1990 to 77.7% in 2020.

The bishops noted that many Catholics are moving away from sacramental practice, even though they still identify as Catholic.

This “silent exodus” is particularly prevalent among young people who turn away from the Catholic Church in a country that recently decriminalised abortion and legalised same-sex marriage.

Msgr Salvador Avila, the rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe outside Mexico City, admits a “relational crisis” exists in the Church. He believes that television and social media have played a part in young people’s crisis of faith.

“Maybe young people don’t understand the message of Jesus Christ, they doubt how to live their faith,” Avila says.

Mexicans turning away from religion

Fred Alvarez Palafox, a journalist with the religious and Christian news outlet Contextos de la Palabra, confirms that Mexicans are turning away from religion. He notes that while the vast majority of people are baptised, only 30-40% of them attend Mass.

Alvarez believes the Church needs to undergo a profound reform, accusing the bishops of being “out of touch” and “stuck in the John Paul II era.”

The Mexican bishops also pointed specifically to a crisis of “clericalism” in the Catholic Church, especially among those in their own ranks. They reported that priests and laypeople are frustrated with how Church leaders exercise authority, which is confused with “power”.

Msgr Avila believes that Catholics continue to attend “gatherings for major celebrations” and remain attached to a form of popular religiosity expressed in shrines and devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“Faith is often associated with: ‘Sit still, close your eyes and pray.’ But to reverse that tendency, we need to develop initiatives in movement, such as camps and pilgrimages, as well as formation, especially through the Pontifical University of Mexico,” the priest insists.

The decline of Catholicism in Mexico is likely to be on the agenda when the top officials of the Mexican bishops’ conference meet with the Vatican during their current visit to Rome for a series of meetings to help prepare for upcoming ad limina visits.