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Although there is no dominant cult among them, the Evangelical churches have become the second most important religious group in Latin America , disputing the supremacy inside Christianity against the Catholic church .
The Evangelical church 's fight against movements such as sexual diversity or the safe abortion seem like futile efforts, the truth is these groups have found a niche for expansion among conservatives, who in turn find refuge in them. They have penetrated society to such degree, throughout Latin America , that it has become an ideological , economic , and political power , expanding their influence beyond temples and occupying spaces through the creation of their own media outlets or through their own political parties , as in the case of the Partido Encuentro Social (Social Encounter Party) in Mexico . During the 2018 presidential election , it joined Morena , the party that represented Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the election. After López Obrador's election win, several Evangelical groups have increased their presence in the national public sphere.
This expansion is perceived in the numbers that show an increase in the groups, also known as sects, including Protestants and Pentecostals , which quadrupled in less than a decade by increasing from 1,331 congregations in 2010 to 5,843 in 2019, according to the INEGI , even when the National Brotherhood of Evangelical Christian Churches ( Confraternice ) claims to represent over 7,000 groups. One of the sects that have greatly expanded in recent years is group named Luz del Mundo ( Light of the world ), which has existed for almost a century, as it has 600,000 members in Mexico and an impressive economic power that has allowed the sect to enter the commercial , real state , and IT industries; moreover, three of its members are federal lawmakers .
Nevertheless, although these congregations justify their presence by arguing they contribute to the common good and other benefits, the reality is that many of these churches are organized to work as businesses and manipulate people. There is a reason why the division between state and church is necessary and in this sense, a rigid position should be maintained, as it has been the case for decades. Nevertheless, we have come across an omission by the current government , which is contradiction the reform implemented by Benito Juárez , one of López Obrador's personal heroes, and on the contrary, we have witnessed a questionable closeness with Evangelical groups .
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