Guatemala - Religion
The U.S. government estimates the total population at 14.9 million (July 2015 estimate). According to a survey conducted during the year by the survey firm ProDatos, approximately 45 percent of the population is Catholic and 42 percent Protestant. Approximately 11 percent of the population professes no religious affiliation. Groups that together constitute less than 3 percent of the population include Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and adherents of Mayan religions.
Non-Catholic Christians include the Full Gospel Church, the Assemblies of God, the Central American Church, the Prince of Peace Church, numerous independent Protestant evangelical groups, Baptists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Episcopalians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Russian Orthodox, and Seventh-day Adventists.
Catholics and Protestants are present throughout the country, with adherents among all major ethnic groups. According to leaders of Mayan spiritual organizations, as well as Catholic and Protestant missionaries, many indigenous Catholics and some indigenous Protestants also practice some form of indigenous spiritual rituals. Approximately 2,000 Jews and a small Muslim community reside primarily in Guatemala City.
The constitution provides for freedom of religion, including the free expression of all beliefs and the right to practice a religion or belief, in public and private. The constitution recognizes the distinct legal personality of the Catholic Church and states that non-Catholic religious groups must register with the government to obtain legal status.
Although the constitution does not require religious groups to register for the purpose of worship, it stipulates that religious groups other than the Catholic Church must seek legal status to conduct activities such as renting or purchasing property and entering into contracts, and to receive tax-exempt status. The constitution provides for tax exemptions for properties of registered religious entities used for worship, religious education, and social assistance.
To register, any non-Catholic religious group must file a copy of its bylaws and a list of its initial membership with the Ministry of Government. The group must have at least 25 members, and the bylaws must reflect an intention to pursue religious objectives. The ministry may reject applications if the group does not appear to be devoted to a religious objective, appears intent on undertaking illegal activities, or engages in activities that appear likely to threaten public order.
The constitution protects the rights of indigenous groups to practice their traditions and desired forms of cultural expression, including religious rites. The criminal code penalizes violation of the freedom of religious celebration and sentiment and the desecration of burial sites or human remains; however, charges are seldom, if ever, filed under these laws.
Although the law permits Mayan spiritual groups to conduct religious ceremonies at Mayan historical sites on government-owned property, some Mayan leaders stated the government continued to limit their access to some religious sites on the grounds that many Mayan archeological sites are now national parks or protected areas. Such limitations included requiring all visitors, including Mayans, to pay admission fees to access the religious sites.
Mayan spiritual groups noted that at certain sites authorities also required Mayans to apply in advance for permission to hold religious ceremonies. Mayan leaders stated they should have unrestricted access to all sacred sites (an estimated 2,000 locations on both public and private land), and the right to manage and protect them. In 2008 the Asociacion Oxlajuj Ajpop introduced an initiative to the congress for a sacred sites law, but the draft legislation has been referred to various committees with no action taken.
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