Acuerdos y Desacuerdos entre el Estado y la Iglesia en México. Del Monopolio Católico a la Secularización y las Leyes de Libertad Religiosa

Abstract

Since ancient times it has been recognized that there are two powers in society: the so-called earthly power and the spiritual power. In the Synoptic Gospels, in response to the malicious question of the Pharisees, Jesus delivered his famous phrase: “…Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”  The problem is that, through history, neither power has distinguished between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God.

This work is an analysis, as well as a reflection, on the disagreements between the spiritual power, in this case the Catholic Church, and the earthly power in Mexico, —first represented in the Spanish Crown and later in the pro-independence, revolutionary, post-revolutionary and neoliberal governments — as well as the impact these encounters have had on the country's religious freedom.

First, the close relationship between the Spanish Crown and the Catholic Church is analyzed, to show the enormous religious monopoly that was established in New Spain. Then, with the independence of the country, the role played by the nascent anti-clerical State in the State/Church relations, and later with the enactment of the freedom of worship laws at the beginning of the neoliberal State. Finally, the study discusses the possibility of a shift from secularism towards a non-secular society whose institutional systems, like the educational one, have the imprint of the largest religions, numerically speaking, existing within the national territory.