The US-based International Christian Concern persecution watchdog group has published a new report highlighting the ongoing persecution of Evangelical church leaders, and Protestant Christians generally, in predominantly Catholic Mexico.
Three Christians in Mexico were released Thursday after being jailed three days for refusing to help fund a patron saint festival that involves a mix of indigenous and Catholic religious traditions, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. The believers were freed following representations by the Defense of Human Rights of the Peoples of Oaxaca (DDHPO) organization.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is calling on Mexico to address a “culture of impunity” that has allowed two Protestant families from the First Baptist Church in La Mesa Limantitla to be threatened with forced displacement on account of their faith by Catholic community leaders, CSW reports.
Mexico’s Religious Affairs Unit has reported that 270 evangelical pastors have died of COVID-19 in the country, Evangelical Focus reports. Seventy-two Catholic priests, and 15 nuns have also died of the virus, the Unit reported.
A new census shows that the number of Protestants in Mexico now exceeds 10 percent of the predominantly Catholic population, Christianity Today reports. Mexico has historically been dominated by the Catholic Church and ranks as one of the most strongly Catholic countries in Latin America.
Evangelical Christians in Mexico have been preaching the Gospel to their Syncretist Catholic neighbors, turning them toward Christ and away from idols, the Christian Post reports. According to a recent survey, the number of Mexican evangelical Christians has increased by 49% since 2010.
Eight Protestant families were denied access to drinking water by community leaders in Mexico in January for not signing a document renouncing their faith, and 4 more Protestants expelled from their village for refusing to participate in local Roman Catholic festivals in July, as the government denies that any religious persecution is taking place.
Twenty-seven evangelical Protestant families in Chiapas state, Mexico, will finally have their access to water and electricity returned after local authorities had agreed two years ago to respect their minority religious freedoms in the village of Union Juarez, Trinitaria Municipality.
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that in the early morning hours of February 15, the day Pope Francis arrived in the state of Chiapas, a minority Christian church located in Zincacantan, in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, was set ablaze, leaving hundreds without a place of worship. Although too early to definitively report on the identity of the perpetrators, the state government has been notified of the crime.
Ten Baptist families were unceremoniously expelled from the community of Tuxpan de Bolanos in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, last week for refusing to recant their faith.
Thirty Evangelical Protestants from the village of Leyva Velazquez in Chiapas, Mexico, were forced to flee what remained of their homes last week, according to International Christian Concern.
Seven Evangelical Christians in Chiapas, Mexico, were imprisoned on Dec. 15 after refusing to convert to Catholicism.
Local Mexican leaders recently raided the farmland in the village of Mariano Matamoros, Chiapas State, as part of an ongoing operation to expel a small Christian community from the Catholic-majority country.
Two converts to Protestantism who had been imprisoned at the municipal capital of San Juan Chamula in Chiapas State since July 7 have now been released.
United States officials have questioned Mexico’s government regarding reports of widespread discrimination and displacement of Protestant Christian communities in Chiapas and other Mexican states.
Earlier this year, Christians in Hidalgo State, Mexico, were allegedly threatened by a local government representative.
A covert to Christianity who heads a home fellowship near Mumbai is suffering with chest and back injuries after about 25 Hindus beat him with wooden rods and iron bars on Jan. 24, according to Morning Star News.
Last month in Mexico’s Chiapas state, the village of Buenavista Bahuitz reneged on an agreement to allow 47 expelled evangelicals to return to their homes, according to Morning Star News.
Victims of religious freedom violations are expected to testify at an upcoming national conference in Mexico.
Traditionalist Catholics assaulted a congregation of evangelical Christians with rods and stones in Oaxaca, Mexico last week, according to Morning Star News.