海角大神

A Vatican envoy has arrived in Mexico with a message: God is not dead.

This week, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi will host a series of debates on secularism that will bring together believers and nonbelievers 鈥撀爐he Vatican鈥檚 first 鈥淐ourtyard of the Gentiles鈥� event outside Europe.

Cardinal Ravasi鈥檚 visit, and the conversation it鈥檚 meant to ignite, comes at a time of spiritual transition in Mexico. The number of non-Roman Catholics in the still predominantly Catholic nation of 112 million has been rising since the 1970s, while the ranks of those who consider themselves expressly nonreligious have jumped significantly, by 56 percent, between 2000 and 2010.

More than 10 million Mexicans practice a religion other than Catholicism today; another 5.3 million say they are not part of any religion, according to the national statistics agency INEGI.

鈥淲e warned [organizers] that we suspected the dialogue would be more difficult in Mexico than in Europe,鈥� says Guillermo Hurtado, a professor of philosophy at Mexico鈥檚 National Autonomous University, who will participate in the debates. 鈥淚n a country like Mexico, there is a great divide that separates believers and nonbelievers. There鈥檚 a latent antagonism.鈥�

'The God question'

The Vatican鈥檚 鈥渃ourtyard鈥� series began under former Pope Benedict XVI, who stepped down in February.聽In an increasingly secular world, Mexico included, religion and religious considerations have taken a back seat in public life, and the dialogue aims to counterbalance that. That the series is making its first stop outside of Europe in Latin America is one indication that Pope Francis of Argentina wants to raise the region鈥檚 profile in the church, say observers.

In describing the series for a Spanish publication last year, Ravasi wrote, 鈥淓ven though they declare themselves atheists, the God question remains present in many men and women.鈥� The courtyard is an opportunity to have a dialogue about faith and reason, he said.

The debates 鈥渁im to go beyond the controversy鈥� of atheism versus religion in Mexico, to talk about pressing social and political themes without one side trying to convince the other, says Mr. Hurtado, a self-described agnostic.

In Mexico those themes will likely include the violence that has battered many regions, as well as the role of religion in culture and society 颅鈥撀燼n especially touchy topic in a country that has historically taken the separation of church and state to extremes.

Separation of church and state

The Mexican government divorced itself from the Catholic Church in 1862 by banning its participation in political life and establishing secular public education 鈥� a reversal of the church's powerful, central role in Mexico dating to the Spanish conquest. A 1992 law loosened some restrictions on religious institutions, including giving priests and ministers the right to vote, but reiterated others such as a prohibition on owning broadcast media.聽

Concerns about the power of the Catholic Church in Mexico still have force here even as the numbers of faithful dwindle, says Eduardo Gonz谩les di Pierro, another philosopher 鈥撀燼nd self-declared believer 鈥撀爓ho will debate the cardinal this week.

Felipe Monroy, who runs the Catholic magazine Vida Nueva, notes, 鈥渢here has been an immense loss of the faithful鈥� in the country, a trend he chalks up to globalization.

鈥淔or us, what鈥檚 important is that Mexico is increasingly global, increasingly plural in that all religions can coexist in this country,鈥� Mr. Monroy says. 鈥淭his means that surely in the future there will be fewer Catholics and more religious expressions.鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 bad,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚t requires adapting to new times.鈥�