<div dir="ltr"><b><font size="4">Mexico's indigenous languages get nod from the Church</font></b><br><br>By Will Grant<div>BBC Mundo, San Cristobal de las Casas</div><div><br></div><div><p class="" id="story_continues_1" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left;font-weight:bold">
As the bells toll at the church of Templo la Caridad in the picturesque colonial city of San Cristobal de las Casas, the local bishop leads a group of indigenous teenagers on the next step in their religious instruction.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left">Confirmation is an important rite of passage for any devout Catholic.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left">It is the moment in which they repeat the commitments and promises to God made on their behalf when they were baptised.</p>
<div class="" style="color:rgb(80,80,80);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:16px;width:144px;float:right;display:inline;overflow:hidden;clear:right;font-size:13px"><a class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25445819#story_continues_2" style="color:rgb(74,113,148);text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold">Continue reading the main story</a><h2 class="" style="margin:0px 0px 12px;padding:6px 0px 5px;font-size:1.231em;border-top-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-top-color:rgb(216,216,216);border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(216,216,216);background-image:url(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/view/3_0_18/cream/hi/shared/img/story_sprite.png);clear:both;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat">
“<span style="display:block;margin:0px 0px 5px">Start Quote</span></h2><blockquote style="margin:0px;padding:0px;float:left;display:inline;font-weight:bold"><p class="" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:0px 0px 12px;padding:0px;font-size:1.231em;clear:left">
When I hear the words in my own language, I feel like Jesus Christ himself is talking to me”</p></blockquote><span class="" style="display:block;margin:0px 0px 8px;clear:both">Maria Teresa</span><span class="" style="display:block;margin:0px 0px 8px;clear:both">Maya youth in Chiapas</span></div>
<p id="story_continues_2" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left">But for these young people, the spoken word in the ceremony is particularly resonant. It is being conducted in Tzotzil, the main Mayan language in this part of Mexico.</p>
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