In 1998 the Catholic Church had only 36 bishops and 1,382 priests to minister in 997 parishes. The Government allows missionary activity and religious demonstrations by all religions. The combination of poverty, neglect, and syncretistic practices in urban and rural areas created conditions that were conducive to the spread of Protestant missionary and Pentecostal evangelical activity. Such activity began in the 1960's, but became more pronounced in the 1980's. Two relatively new groups are the Native American churches of Itzachilatan, whose adherents practice Indian healing rites and nature worship, and the followers of Inti, the traditional Inca sun god.
Atheists also exist.
The total of these above groups represents about 10 percent of the population. There are no restrictions on publishing religious materials in any language. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. There were no reports of religious detainees or prisoners. There were no reports of the forced religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the Government's refusal to allow such citizens to return to the United States.