Can the government authorities in Mexico place in public spaces, using treasury resources, Christmas nativity scenes that stage the arrival of Jesus Christ into the world? The answer is no. That is what is considered by a project of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) in an Amparo in Revision that will set an important precedent in defense of the secular State.
Every December it is common for municipalities and state governments to place nativity scenes and various Christmas decorations in public spaces that allude to the nativity of Christ, a Catholic and Christian tradition that in 2020 was challenged by a citizen of the municipality of Chocholáin Yucatan, through an amparo trial.
Specifically, the lawsuit asks that the authorities of that municipality be prohibited from placing “in spaces and with public resources (of) symbols that allude to a specific religious conviction”, since In Mexico, the Constitution is clear that our State is secular.
Articles 130, 24 and 3 of the Constitution, among others, establish the secular nature of the Mexican State, which means that the political organization of our country has no religion, but that all authorities, acting as such, must be neutral and respectful of all religious beliefs.
The separation between Church and State was established in Mexico by Benito Juárez, between 1859 and 1860, with the Reform laws. In turn, citizens have the freedom to practice any religion, since it is a human right that public servants must respect.
Therefore, according to the demand of the Yucatecan citizen, the births that the authorities place represent an act that gives “preference to Catholics, because they are given attention and benefit that should not be given to any religion or cult by virtue of the secular state”.
No more births of Jesus Christ
The draft sentence, prepared by Minister Juan Luis González Alcántara, agrees with the complainant, and orders the City Council of Chocholá refrain in the future from placing in public spaces of that municipality “signs that allude to a specific religious conviction”.
The minister’s document, which will be discussed in the First Chamber of the Court on November 9, also establishes that the authorities of the aforementioned municipality must avoid spending public resources for the placement of symbols “that allude to a specific religious conviction”, ergo no more births of Jesus Christ by the City Council of Chocholá, in Yucatán.
Likewise, the City Council is ordered to adopt the measures it deems necessary, in the exercise of its legal and constitutional powers, “to promote the exercise of religious freedom and, consequently, promote ideological plurality within the Municipality.”
Minister González Alcántara argues that this ruling is intended to prevent “absolutely and definitively” the normalization of state behaviors that, based on religious dogmas or conscience, cause discriminatory treatment of people.
This does not mean that we Mexicans should stop celebrating Christmas, or refrain from decorating our houses. with any element that shows our religious convictions, or even the absence of them, since the secular State also implies respect for those who are atheists or do not profess any religion.
What is being proposed in this sentence is that the municipal authorities of Chocholá should not install the traditional nativity scenes every year, not only because public resources are spent giving preference to the Catholic faith, but above all, because as authorities they have the obligation to respect the religious diversity of the population, without privileging a single belief, even if it is majority or massive.
The project clarifies that the City Council in question can decorate public spaces by installing “symbols that refer to concepts that are rationally acceptable to any person”, regardless of their religious convictions or conscience.
Precedent for the whole country
The proposal details that the authorities, by installing decorations in public spaces that allude to certain religious conceptions, violate the principle of equality and non-discrimination established by the Magna Carta.
If this Amparo in Review is approved, the immediate effect of the sentence will only apply to the benefit of the plaintiff citizen, so it must only be complied with by the City Council of Chocholá, a municipality in western Yucatan with a population of 4,863 inhabitants, according to the 2020 Census of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
Nevertheless, the sentence will constitute an important precedent that can be invoked in other amparo trials that could be promoted throughout the country, against the installation of nativity scenes and Christmas decorations carried out by local governments in Mexico, a widespread practice that -certainly- gives preference to the Catholic religion and violates the secular State established by our norms.
In this sense, the project points out that the installation of births by municipal or state authorities are legal, political and social acts that have been normalized in our country, becoming “true patterns of social behavior” that transgress the Constitution, and that have a negative impact on autonomy, the free development of the personality, “and the human dignity of citizens in Mexico.”
Based on this doctrine, the project tries to become “a precedent whose purpose is to set a trending jurisprudential pattern (sic) to transform structural conditions of inequality in the Mexican State”, which are contrary to the constitutional text.
“That is, beyond protecting the legal sphere of the complainant, The ruling seeks to prevent subsequent citizen promotion of constitutional control trials (amparos) that have the purpose of combating acts that are discriminatory when they are founded on dogmas related to certain religious convictions or conscience”, says the project.
With this last statement, Minister Juan Luis González Alcántara suggests that the sentence could have general effects for all authorities in Mexico, although this is not explicit in the 87-page document. This implies that, if the ministers so determine, the ruling could include effects that oblige all officials to refrain from decorating cities with religious motives.
In Mexico, 78.6% of the population is Catholic, 12.7% of citizens profess a religion other than this, and 8.1% say they are atheists. In Yucatan, 74.3% of its inhabitants are Catholic, 16% have another religion, and 8.6% have no religious belief, according to data from the latest INEGI Census.
MORE NEWS:
Surya Palacios Journalist and lawyer, specialist in legal analysis and human rights. She has been a reporter, radio host and editor.