Controversy over “influencer” who entered a church in Mexico City in shorts

A Spanish “influencer” recently visited Mexico City and entered a Catholic church wearing “shorts”, short pants. The young woman was harshly rebuked by a parishioner, and the video of the altercation went viral. A Mexican priest warns that “the house of God must be respected.”

Since June 5, it has been circulating on social networks a video which shows an incident at the doors of the San Juan Bautista parish, in the mayor’s office of Coyoacán, south of Mexico City. The video shows how a local parishioner confronts foreign visitors, including the well-known Spanish “influencer” “Mayichi”, for being inside the religious premises wearing a short skirt with a small short underneath it.

“This is my church and you cannot enter with shorts,” claimed the woman recorded in the video, adding: “if she is Catholic, she knows there are rules.”

The video quickly spread on various platforms, generating a wave of comments. Many Internet users showed their support for the influencer, defending her right to dress however she wants and criticizing the parishioner’s attitude.

What does the Catholic Church say about the use of clothing in temples?

The Primate Archdiocese of Mexico, through his weekly From the Faithconsulted Father José Alberto Medel, priest of the Diocese of Xochimilco and expert in Liturgy, to clarify the norms and context of the incident.

The priest explained that “although temples are open to everyone, they are not public spaces.”

“The house of God must be respected, since it is a place reserved for divine worship. So it is necessary to observe the established forms for this,” he stressed.

“I frequently tell my parishioners that there is a place for everything: to walk, to play sports, to have fun, to see shows, to have parties; and also places to pray and praise God; that is, for divine worship,” he noted.

Indicating that each site has its dress code, the priest called on people who attend places of devotion to be “properly dressed.”

Decorum in the Catholic Church

The temples and facilities of the Catholic Church are spaces that require special decorum. As an example, the Vatican Museums website It points out that in its facilities, as well as in the Sistine Chapel, in St. Peter’s Basilica and in the Vatican Gardens, “only visitors dressed decently are allowed.”

“Sleeveless and/or low-cut clothing, shorts that do not cover the knees, miniskirts or caps are not permitted,” the website states.

“Decorum also extends to visible personal objects, as well as equally visible personal distinctive signs (such as tattoos), which may offend Catholic morality, the Catholic religion and the common feeling of modesty,” he adds.

Similar provisions apply in Catholic temples around the world.

Correction, an “opportunity to catechize”

On the other hand, Father Medel clarified that, “although it is legitimate to ask for respect for a sacred place, it is appropriate to do so with words that can be a catechesis, and not through shouts that become offenses.”

Regarding the video, the priest warned that the person making the correction “commits an excess, a disproportion with which he ends up doing the same thing he criticizes: disrespecting this space with the ways he uses.”

“He misses the opportunity to catechize that this situation puts him in front of. Maybe those people are not believers and it seems normal to come in dressed like that; So what we have to do is help them understand that we believe so much that we try to honor those spaces even with our clothing,” Father Medel pointed out.

The Mexican priest lamented that “excessity is the hallmark of our times,” since while “visitors overlook that, although it is a temple with historical, artistic and cultural value, it is also a sacred space that must be respect”.

The woman who sought to correct them, he lamented, “does not understand that her attitude is not pious, that it does not contribute anything, and that, even more, it is contrary to Christian values.”

Finally, Father Medel suggested to the priests who are in charge of parishes that receive many tourists “put up signs or have people inform visitors about the appropriate ways of dressing and behaving inside, since it can also be to be very well dressed and perform reckless actions.”