Religious affiliation in census causing confusion among Mexican Catholics

Mexico City, Mexico, May 18, 2010 / 16:06 pm

As Mexico begins its 2010 Census, the country's bishops have cautioned Catholics to be careful responding to the question on religious affiliation as its ambiguous language could lead them to state they are part of another denomination.

The bishops criticized the classification of religious affiliations included in the question, which gives Mexicans the option of identifying themselves as belonging to the “Roman Catholic Church, the Traditional Catholics, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, the Tridentine Priestly Society, the Mexican National Catholic Church, The Catholic Church of the Apostles of the Last Days, the Society of St. Pius X, The Latin Rite Tridentine Catholic Church, the Latin Rite Catholic Church, the Tridentine Mexican Catholic Union, the Catholic Church of Christ International and the Reformed Apostolic Roman Catholic Church.”

The bishops said Catholics should be sure to select “Roman Catholic” as their religious identity. “It is of transcendental importance that our faithful respond clearly that they belong to the Roman Catholic Church,” the bishops said.