|Mexico Table of Contents The 1980s and early 1990s witnessed a
notable shift in religious affiliation and in church-state
relations in Mexico. Although Mexico remains predominantly Roman
Catholic, evangelical churches have dramatically expanded their
membership. Motivated in part by the evangelical challenge, the
leadership of the Roman Catholic Church has sought greater
visibility, speaking out on sensitive public issues and ignoring
constitutional bans on clerical involvement in politics. These
actions ultimately led in 1992 to dramatic constitutional
changes and a resumption of diplomatic relations with the
Vatican. The Roman Catholic share of the population declined
steadily during the period from 1970 to 1990. In 1970, 96.2
percent of the population five years of age and older identified
itself as Roman Catholic. That dropped to 92.6 percent of the
population in the 1980 census and to 89.7 percent in 1990. The
1990 census revealed significant regional variations in numbers
of Roman Catholics. Roman Cath