RELIGIONSPAIN & MEXICO

ROMAN CATHOLICISM

• Largest christian group with more than 1.7 billion followers

• Portrays themselves as the one legitimate heir to New Testament Christianity

• The POPE is the Head of the Roman Catholic Church worldwide

• The current Pope is Pope Francis from Argentina

SPANISH RELIGION

• Spain is a nation born-out of religion

• Roman Catholicism is the largest denomination present in Spain

• About 68% of Spaniards self-identify as Catholics

• 2% other believe in other faiths

• 27% identified as atheists or declare they have no religion

HISTORY: PRE-FRANCO

• Spain had a lot of state religion before 1851

• This include Iberian Peninsula, Islam and Jewish

• Catholicism became the state religion in 1851

HISTORY: UNDER FRANCO

• The Franco regime saw the restoration of the church's privileges

• During the Franco years, Roman Catholicism was the only religion to have legal status

• The Government provided financial assistance to Roman Catholic Churches

• Laws that were against the Roman Catholic were passed

• Catholic religious instruction was mandatory

MINOR RELIGIONS

• There are also various varieties of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and the non-religious

• A limited number of Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans, Taoists, and Bahá'ís.

• The most visible Pagan religions are forms of Germanic Heathenism, Celtism and Wicca

• Taoism has a presence in Spain, especially in Catalonia

MEXICO RELIGION

FACTS• Catholicism is the dominant religion in Mexico

• About 82.7% of the population as of 2010 are Roman Catholics

• The number of Catholics has been declining due to the growth of other Christian denominations

• About 2 to 5 million Mexicans adhere to the Santa Muerte Religion

• Islam and Buddhism have both made limited inroads, through immigration and conversion.

CHRISTIANITY

• Mexico has different Christianity churches

• Roman Catholics are 82.7% of the total population

• Mexicans combine or syncretize Catholic practices with native traditions

• Other movements include Protestantism, Orthodoxy, Seventh-day Adventist, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

• About 11% of the population are Protestantism

• Protestantism also include some Seventh-day Adventist and Jehovah’s Witnesses followers

BUDDHISM

• Approximately 108,701 Buddhists are counted in Mexico.

• One of six Tibet Houses in the world – Casa Tibet México – is located in Mexico City

• The Casa Tibet México is used to preserve and share Tibetan culture and spirituality

• The Casa Tibet México is used by the Dalai Lama

• Other leaders of Tibetan Buddhism also uses the Casa Tibet México

NON-RELIGIOUS

• Almost 3 million people in the 2000 National Census reported having no religion

• Many atheists are counted as Catholics due to the misconception that Mexicans are Roman Catholicism

• Only around 3% of Catholics attend church daily

• While only 44% of Catholics attend church at least once a week

• The number of atheists grows annually by 5.2%