Interestingly, all devotees whom I interviewed in Mexico except one told me they were Catholic. In fact, just this week both the Archdiocese of Washington and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops refused to comment on devotion to Saint Death in this country. To date, the Church in the US has made no official pronouncement. The Church in Mexico has officially denounced it as heretical, with certain bishops and priests even condemning her cult as satanic. What is the stance of the Catholic church on the cult? However, the great majority of devotees venerate the Bony Lady (one of her common monikers) on their own, without any affiliation with the temples or Doña Queta’s shrine. And a monthly magazine, published in Mexico City, provides ritual instruction and advice to Santa Muertistas. Doña Queta (the godmother of the cult) leads monthly public worship services at her famous Mexico City shrine. There are now many Saint Death temples in both Mexico and the US. Drug traffickers, law enforcement agents, prisoners, prostitutes and others who make their living in the street are particular groups who seek out the saint’s protective scythe.ĭo you think the cult is in the process of institutionalizing? Santa Muerte proves to be especially attractive to those Mexicans who feel the proximity of death in their daily lives. Mexico, tragically, has some of the world’s highest murder and kidnapping rates, ranking in the top ten in both categories. More that 40 thousand Mexicans have died in the drug wars since President Felipe Calderon took office. Is there a correlation between the meteoric growth of the cult of Santa Muerte over the past ten years and the paroxysm of violence in Mexico related to the global economic crisis and the war on drugs? However, many Mexicans who partake in Days of the Dead rituals completely reject the idea of spiritual devotion to a folk saint who personifies death. Devotion to Santa Muerte involves veneration of death herself (conceived of as a female entity) whereas Days of the Dead (November 1 and 2) focus on the commemoration of departed relatives and loved ones. Is there a connection between devotion to Santa Muerte and the more “domesticated” version of death represented by the Mexican Day of the Dead? Andrew Chestnut, author of Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint, to discuss this folk saint’s impact today. Devotees believe the Bony Lady (as she is affectionately called) to be the fastest and most effective miracle worker, and as such, her statuettes and paraphernalia now outsell those of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude, two other giants of Mexican religiosity. Although condemned by mainstream churches, her supernatural powers appeal to millions of Latin Americans and immigrants in the US. Santa Muerte is the skeleton saint whose cult has attracted millions of devotees over the past decade. Shrines and statues of the skeleton figure - typically depicted wearing a black nun's robe and holding a scythe - can be found in New Mexico, California, Louisiana, Texas and elsewhere.It’s Mardi Gras today and revellers may recognize skull and skeleton decorations reminiscient of a saint and the Mexican Day of the Dead. Popular in Mexico and sometimes linked to drug cartels, La Santa Muerte in recent years has found a diverse following north of the border: immigrant small-business owners, artists, gay activists and the poor, among others - many of them non-Latinos and not all involved with organized religion. 'Our devotion is to the God of life,' Wester said. It's a symptom of a search looking for answers.'īut the devotion to death is not in line with the church's teachings, Wester said, and Santa Muerte is misleading to people. 'I think in part, it's (because) people are looking and searching.

New Mexico Archbishop John Wester recently told the Associated Press he believes some Catholics may be fooled into venerating Santa Muerte even though the focus on death runs counter to the church's teachings. An archbishop is renewing his call for Catholics to stop worshiping the skeleton folk saint known as La Santa Muerte, or 'Our Lady of Holy Death,' saying he fears some mistakenly believe the Grim Reaper-like figure is a Roman Catholic Church-sanctioned saint.

Santa muerte