Diversification of the religious map in Michoacan, Mexico. The weakness of traditional catholic and protestant churches and the arrival of new religious propositions (1940-1970)

Beginning with a historical review based on unpublished archive documents, in addition to the pertinent literature, this article analyses the rupture of the traditional forms of Catholic and Protestant beliefs established in the State of Michoacan, Mexico. As a consequence, this led to the arrival of the first Pentecostal, para-protestant and Christian churches, which managed to successfully establish themselves in a society that resented the lack of spiritual support from their Catholic leaders, who suspended activities of worship during the Cristero War, and of a Protestant and secular society that was weary of the constant confrontations between these two institutions. The authors attempt to demonstrate that the arrival of other religious propositions to the State, depended largely on the weakness of traditional religions, which could not contain their progress as they were immersed in internal problems derived from religious policies and their schisms, thus contributing with their arrival to the diversification of beliefs and a new restructuring of the religious map.