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🛕 Tourism killing churches?

This essay was created for practicing purposes. None of the information is real.



Arts & Nature


Tourism killing churches?


Photo by Rimi D. Bawatza 2    Photo by Rimi D. Bawatza




M.I.B.T. researchers uncover how Christian people stopped going to churches for mass and started going for taking pictures.




By       Cesar Castanon A

            Nillo Staff Writer

Date    September 18, 2021   


The Mexican Institute of Bizarre Tourism (M.I.B.T), which is in charge of all the touristic trends happening in the Aztec country, has published in its last paper a series of numbers that could change religious perceptions around the globe. 
Elias Acuna, Today's Bizarre Events Director, recently spoke to the News Portal about the last survey results. Besides, M.I.B.T.’s highly-respected team of scholars and the Mayan Rock foundation managed the international poll in record time.

Q&A

Elias Acuna

News Portal: Congratulations on the astonishing result you got. We saw the report on every newspaper headline last week.

Acuna: Thank you. These results show us the fascinating way sacred places are changing in the political and social spectrum. We expected less shocking results and fewer people participating. 

NEWS PORTAL: How many people participated in this activity?

ACUNA:  Our organization consists of 150 men and 160 women. Moreover, the Mayan team applied 20,000 questionnaires throughout the entire country.

NEWS PORTAL: What was the number you did not expect to find? 

ACUNA: Woah, though question. This one: around 87% of the interviewed people said they went to a nearby church because they needed content for their social platforms. One of the girls shared with us this next comment after finishing the questions: "Every time I upload a new picture in places like this, my mother in law comments the picture saying beautiful stuff like 'My son is fortunate for having you,' That's why I go." 

“People are drawn to Catholic places and other Christian sanctuaries because they are wildly different from most other religious spots.”

NEWS PORTAL:  Do you think movies like "The Two Popes" help spreading the Catholic church's fanbase?

ACUNA: Yes, they do. Our research showed how that particular film changed the perception of at least five million young adults, just in the first month. The admiration this generation has for everything appearing on social media and in videos they like is priceless. 

NEWS PORTAL:  Have you a personal comment about those churches that have changed into the centers of attention of a city? Like "La Sagrada Familia" in Barcelona or "La Basilica de Guadalupe" in Mexico?

ACUNA: If I could describe this new spiritual trend in one word, I would say—Unbelievable. People are drawn to Catholic places and other Christian sanctuaries because they are wildly different from most other religious spots. Even though those sanctuaries are still being constructed, their popularity continues growing.

NEWS PORTAL:  What was the most challenging part of it? 

ACUNA:  Sometimes asking questions like: Did you come to this place to be part of the mass or take pictures? Make people feel quite uncomfortable. Nonetheless, I owe the project to my fantastic team, family, and, of course, the interviews.

NEWS PORTAL:  What would be the next ambitious project you and your team will develop in this next year?

ACUNA:  I can't talk about them right now; however, you will see them in a couple of months.


This research was supported by the Zacatecas Bizarre People Foundation, the Lost Tourists Program, the "Ayuda Me Ya Me Perdi" Foundation, the Globetrotter scholarship, the Mayan Rock team, and the National Foundation for Epic Photos. 


The interview was lightly edited for clarity and length. 



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