Category: Santa Muerte

Mexico arrests leader of “Saint Death” cult

Santa Muerte David Romo, considered the high priest of a cult with millions of followers across the Americas, is accused of kidnapping and posing as a member of the feared Zetas drug cartel.

The “Santa Muerte” cult has become popular among drug traffickers in Mexico, in part because followers believe the skeletal figure of the female “saint” may protect them from death or arrest.

Santa Muerte in L.A.: A gentler vision of ‘Holy Death’

Santa Muerte Santa Muerte is not a Catholic saint, and in recent decades her popularity in Mexico, especially among the poor and criminal classes, has led to clashes with church officials and government authorities.

But in and around Los Angeles, where Santa Muerte services are held in at least three storefront shrines, a dash of pop theology and Southern California sunshine seems to have given the movement a mild New Age flavor.

Mexico destroys ‘Death Saint’ revered by criminals

Santa Muerte Mexican federal authorities used bulldozers to bring down more than 30 chapels devoted to “Saint Death” – a figure that is worshipped by drug traffickers – in the northern city of Nuevo Laredo, the daily Reforma reported Wednesday.

Although the figure is venerated by people from many walks of life, the saint — Santa Muerte — has been adopted by drug gangs.

Mexican police suspect that heads burned in ritual

Santa Muerte The heads of 11 decapitated bodies discovered in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula last week may have been burned in a ritual, investigators said.

Police said they found an altar to the skeletal figure of the “Santa Muerte,” an unofficial patron saint of death, in the home of two men arrested in connection with the slayings, while several scorched spots were discovered in a nearby clearing.

Saint Death comes to Chicago

Eduardo Ornelas, a spiritual adviser and owner of the Botanica San Miguel Arcangel, said he tells customers the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize Santa Muerte. Even so, for many in the Mexican community she has emerged as representing a dark, less-traveled path ultimately connected to God.