Photo of three saints at the Los Angeles Temple, Templo Santa Muerte
Santa Muerte means Saint Death. She is not a true saint of the Catholic Church, but rather a folk saint arising out of traditional folklore.
Santa Muerte is a female, a sort of girly version of the Grim Reaper. She is a skeleton figure carrying a scythe, but the way she is dressed is varied. Usually, she wears a shroud over her bare skull, but some Santa Muerte adherents dress her to their own specifications, sometimes even having an outfit custom designed.
Santa Muerte is often referred to as a narco saint, because she is considered to be popular among drug traffickers. However, ordinary people who have no involvement in the drug trade find her appealing because they feel she is non-judgemental and accepts her followers as they are, frailties and all.
Santa Muerte received a fair amount of press in 2009 when, in order to show strength against the drug trade, the Mexican Army was ordered to destroy roadside altars in Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa.
Mexico City had a self-appointed head of the Santa Muerte religion who declared himself an archbishop. His name is David Romo and in 2011 he was arrested for kidnapping and extortion and now spends his days in a Mexican prison, despite having told his followers that praying to Santa Muerte had previously helped him avoid jail time.
Another character in the movement is Enriqueta Romero, also known as Enriqueta Vargas or Dona Queta, a native of Mexico City who displayed the first statue of Santa Muerte outside her home on Halloween in advance of the Day of the Dead in 2001. Dona Queta lives in Tepito, a neighborhood known for crime, gangs and violence. There is currently a monthly rosary gathering at this location, where adherents bring offerings such as cigarettes, flowers, fruit or marijuana. (Dona Queta, now in her 70s, has been plagued with health problems and has been recently hospitalized. Her son was murdered in 2008 and her husband was murdered in 2016, both in assassination style killings.)
In 2013, Santa Muerte received another boost in the press when Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, publicly denounced the worship of the folk saint as blasphemy.
Other Catholic officials have followed suit. For example, in February of 2017, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Angelo, Texas, issued the following:
Statement on Santa Muerte
February 28, 2017
by Most Rev. Michael J. Sis, Bishop of San Angelo
Involvement with Santa Muerte is spiritually dangerous and it is not Catholic in any way. It should be completely avoided. It is a perversion of devotion to the saints.
In 2013, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, denounced the Santa Muerte practice as “sinister and infernal.” He called it a “blasphemy of religion.”
The cult of Santa Muerte has been linked to violent drug cartels and brutal ritual killings. While it is popular in Mexican prisons, it has followers in many walks of life in Mexico and in some parts of the United States. The principal sanctuary of Santa Muerte is in Tepito, Mexico City.
We must distinguish true saints from false saints and superstitions. Authentic saints are those found in the Bible and those who have passed through the official process of beatification and canonization by the Vatican. Santa Muerte is not one of them.
Rather than asking Santa Muerte for protection or favors, we should turn our life over to Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, make a sincere Confession, follow God’s commandments, and trust in the grace of God. Catholics and other Christians should get rid of any Santa Muerte statues, candles, or other paraphernalia.
In his Resurrection, Jesus Christ conquered death. Through our Christian Baptism, we share in his victory.
Unlike official saints who have been canonized by the Catholic Church, folk saints are the spirits of the dead considered holy for their miracle working powers.
Andrew Chesnut, a professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond is the author of “Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint.”
According to Chestnut, Santa Muerte is the fastest growing religion in the Mexico and the US and he estimates there may be as many as 10 million followers. (Before Archbishop David Romo headed off to prison, his estimate was about 5 million.)
However, Chestnut admits, attempts to quantify these numbers are impossible as many people practice this religion in secrecy.
Sales of Santa Muerte merchandise are brisk. Decals, candles, statues, coins votive candles, figurines, oils, potions and powders are only a few of the popular collectibles–and a quick Internet search shows that these items can be quite pricey. Particularly popular are red candles and red-colored rituals which ask Santa Muerte to make or improve love connections. In fact, there is a entire array of color symbolism in Santa Muerte, with black candles and prayers used to thwart or punish enemies.
Shops carrying Santa Muerte merchandise abound in Mexico and in the border towns in Texas as well as in L.A.
Santa Muerte worship centers are popping up here and there. The Templo Santa Muerte in L.A. is one example, complete with a store to buy even more baubles. http://www.templosantamuerte.com/
In Mexico, the population most enthusiastic about Santa Muerte tends to be blue collar, low income workers often with very limited education.
The dark side of Santa Muerte
Santa Muerte is referred to as a cult by the Catholic Church. In an article published in The National Catholic Register titled “Beware of the Cult of Santa Muerte,” Bishop Emeritus Michael Pfeifer of San Angelo, Texas opines that, “People turn to this devotion for worldly help, for money, material benefits — even to commit crimes and to keep them from being caught for their terrible deeds. So it’s really a devotion to Satan to gain material favors: money, prestige, power.” Pfeifer also notes that the rituals are often similar to Catholic traditions, mixing masses and Catholic prayers with Santa Muerte worship in order to legitimize the ceremonies.
Pfeiffer adds that “in recent years, it has become the religion of the narcotraficantes (drug traffickers). And they are getting stronger and stronger, and they promote this devotion, especially in villages where there are poor people.”
Another factor, according to Pfeiffer, is that drug traffickers also put money back into their communities, providing cash for essential services to the poor and uneducated, making the people feel beholden to them for the assistance. Thus, the appeal of a narco saint may be enhanced by these customs.
But most worrying of all is evidence of Santa Muerte related murders. Although most have occurred among cartel members or inside prisons, a few have occurred outside the drug trafficking arena.
In 2012, authorities in the Mexican state of Sonora arrested eight people involved in “sacrificing” two 10-year old boys and one adult woman to make blood offerings to a Santa Muerte altar.
In November of 2018, a man in Tennessee claimed to have escaped a failed human sacrifice to Santa Muerte. The case is still under investigation.
A new website attempts to put Santa Muerte information and resources into one location:
https://www.internationalsantamuerte.com/