Mexican Supreme Court judge Juan Luis González Alcántara Carrancá has emitted a proposal to ban nativity scenes, or any signs alluding to religion, in public spaces that are paid for with resources.
The case stems from an injunction filed in December 2020 by an individual protesting nativity scenes and Christmas decorations alluding to religion erected in the municipality of Chocholá, Yucatán.
The Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM), the official leadership body of the Catholic Church, described the move as an “absurd proposal to eliminate all public manifestations of religious life.”
The CEM questioned whether the court intended to impose “a society without religious references … where the denial of religious beliefs prevails.”
Adherents of the conservative pro-Catholic Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) were unequivocal in their rage. Senator Lilly Tellez accused the court, in collusion with the federal government, of “attempting to steal Christmas,” while former President Felipe Calderon called the move as “yet another outrage” that is aimed at “destroying Christian culture and values.”
The Supreme Court was scheduled to discuss the proposal last week but postponed the hearing until a later, unspecified date.