Editing Tejanos (section)

=== Religion ===
Tejanos, [[Mexican Americans|Mexican-American]] Texans, have always had their own special brand of [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas State Historical |title=The Evolution of Mexican American Religious Life in Texas |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mexican-americans-and-religion#:~:text=Tejanos%20followed%20the%20basic%20tenets,fervently%20observed%20traditional%20holy%20days. |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref> that addressed their cultural identity and survival. While they adhered to Catholicism's basic tenets, they practiced their faith in ways that went against institutional expectations. Tejanos were devoted to the [[Virgin Mary]] and the saints, and they diligently observed traditional holy days. Yet they also engaged in home altars ([[altar]]citos) and selective sacramental observance, which were not necessarily inaccord with official Church teaching. This was partially a response to the Church's historical neglect and discrimination against them. Despite such tensions, Tejanos' religious practice was deeply integrated in their social and cultural lives and was a means for them to assert identity and communal solidarity.