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Published: April 9, 2009
“Holy war against the Catholic Church”
Devotees of bizarre ‘Saint of Death’ popular with drug traffickers call for jihad against Church in Mexico after military destroys several of their shrines
Mexico City, Mexico (CNA) -- Father Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, has issued a warning about the “terrorist” nature of the call for a “holy war” against the Catholic Church by the leader of followers of Santa Muerte -- “St. Death.”
 David Romo Guillen, leader of the devotion to “St. Death,” especially popular among drug traffickers and criminals, called for a “holy war” against the Catholic Church after the Mexican Army destroyed several places of worship it suspected to be criminal hideouts, especially in the northern part of the country, including one shrine to Santa Muerte in Tijuana.
"Only terrorist or fundamentalist leaders call for holy wars, like Bin Laden or the Taliban,” said Fr. Valdemar. “It’s a shame that Mr. Romo makes himself equal to the Taliban or a terrorist by calling for a holy war.”
After the destruction of the suspected hideouts, Romo blamed the military’s actions on the Catholic Church, because several bishops had warned against the devotion and called it un-Christian.
On Monday, April 6, followers of St. Death, led by Romo, protested outside the Mexico City Cathedral, displaying pictures of the “White Child,” the name they have given to St. Death, represented by a skeleton dressed in a white tunic or sometimes in a wedding gown.
“Nobody has the right to call for a war, sedition, or a revolt,” said Fr. Valdemar. “As far as I know, that is a crime.”
The priest denied that the Catholic Church has launched a campaign against the practice. “David Romo is only looking for someone to get into the ring with him,” Fr. Valdemar stated.
The spokesman for the archdiocese stressed that the bishops have limited themselves to “clarifying for the people that this devotion is superstitious and can lead to demonic practices, and that they should be very careful because it is not something insignificant or inoffensive.”
Holy Week, he went on, “is the least appropriate time to carry on these kinds of protests for holy wars. It should be a time of respect and peace.”
“St. Death has no business being in front of the cathedral,” Fr. Valdemar added. The leader of the sect “should protest outside the Secretariat of the National Defense and the Attorney General because I understand it was soldiers from the military who destroyed the altars.”
Fr. Valdemar called on the Catholic faithful not to allow themselves to be provoked because “it is not legitimate to get involved in fights, and much less so in Holy Week.”
One Santa Muerte shrine was destroyed in Tijuana on March 21. The tiny chapel made of concrete blocks had stood for five years on an abandoned road between Tijuana and Tecate. Followers of La Santa Muerte revere a skull-faced statue holding a scythe in her right hand and an hourglass in her left. Worshippers leave cigars, cigarettes, matchboxes, and even cans of beer behind in the chapel as part of their rituals, which also involve candles, knives, dolls, and strings.
One of the cult’s biggest draws is that followers can ask La Santa Muerte to wreak vengeance on their enemies. A prayer (translated): “I want you to make it so that [insert the name] can't eat on a table, can't sit on a chair, nor have peacefulness. I wish that you force him to give himself up and humiliate him in front of me, come to my feet, and never ever leave me.”
Tijuana Archbishop Rafael Romo Muñoz expressed little sympathy for Santa Muerte followers over the shrine’s destruction, telling a Tijuana newspaper the cult was nothing but a business selling scary images of “the patron of narco-trafickers” and that its followers ask the grisly image to help them complete their “vengeance and killings.”
(Editor’s Note: A California Catholic Daily writer contributed to this story with details about the incident that occurred in Tijuana and more information on the cult’s practices.)
Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 2:55 AM By AnnCA
I'd say the line has already crossed into demonic practices. My personal theory is this is why drug addictions are so intense and hard to cure. They are demonic oppressions or obsessions via ingestion into the body. Many exorcists will tell you curses are the most difficult to exorcise.
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 5:40 AM By Charles O'Connell
The enemy of souls, who shouldn't even be named, is a potent force for death. Among intellectuals, the successful & well-to-do, it is the demon's pleasure that they shouldn't believe in his existence. Among poor and simple people, it is the demon's pleasure that they should ascribe excessive power to devils. When the Little Flower, as a child was allowed to see two demons lurking beneath a bench in her garden, they fled in terror at her gaze. God perpetually restrains demons by the power of St. Michael the Archangel, whose name means "Who Is Like God?" St. Michael wasn't the most powerful angel, but because of his love and humility, he was empowered to defeat the strongest demons. Call upon his name, frequently. "St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen."
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 10:21 AM By Fr. M.P.
A true saint is all about life - eternal life - and not death. "I came that you may have life, and have it more abundantly." The very title "St. death" is self-contradictory.
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 12:12 PM By Life or Death
"Now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death." (Philippians 1:20)
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 12:26 PM By John F. Maguire
In agreement with Fr. M.P. that the very title "St. Death" is an existential contradiction, I am reminded of the teaching of Wisdom 2: 24: "But by the very envy of the devil death came into the world."
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 12:32 PM By Angelus
“DEATH teaches us to be generous of heart, courageous in living our faith and ready to forgive those who harm us.” (Pope Benedict XVI, December 26, 2006) “We never celebrate and exalt life as much as we do in the nearness of DEATH and in DEATH itself… In ALL societies, whether primitive or evolved, the CELEBRATION OF DEATH is understood as a sign of respect for the memory of someone who has died, and as an implicit AFFIRMATION OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. Those who believe in God and in eternal life well know that DEATH, the consequence of the sin of man, despite its human drama, MUST ALSO BE THE DOOR to their definitive and eternal union with God, Creator and Father… Therefore, the Christian understands suffering, and DEATH itself, as THE POSSIBILITY OF UNITING himself intimately to the sufferings and death of Christ, Who died and rose for us. (Final Declaration, Pontificia Academia Pro Vita, February 24-27, 1999)
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 1:07 PM By Ann Cinquina
These practitioners of evil find their graven image to be very profitable for destroying the eternity of our Christian beliefs. It shall never be accomplished. God is in his heaven...........
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 2:27 PM By Life Lady
Once again, extremism and a counterfeit held out as a promise to something better. If anyone takes the bait they will find themselves caught in the snare of the enemy. Death is nothing to celebrate, but life is. Life with Our Lord is the thing to celebrate. He has said "I know mine, and mine know me" so, if you think you know Him, you can only know Him, truly, when you are at prayer, before the Blessed Sacrament, in union with Him, now, and by His Grace, after you pass from this life into Eternity. Our souls are eternal, and NEVER DIE, so, whoever says that dying is some kind of celebration or a possibility of unitiing with anything, has misspoken. Our souls live on, well after our corrupt bodies are lying in the grave. There is nothing to celebrate in the corruption of dying, but there is a lot to be thankful for if we are in the state of Grace, sufficient to gain Eternity with God.
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 3:03 PM By Mark from PA
This is scary stuff. Drug traffickers and criminals are also cult members who worship evil. God help the people that come in contact with these people. We all need to pray for Mexico which is suffering from terrible violence.
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 8:55 PM By JPeterman
AnnCa, very interesting point. Father Corapi has spoken before about the drug dealers putting curses on their products. This is real evil and can only be defeated with fasting and prayer. I have gone into Mexican grocery stores in Florida and seen candles, near the usual religious candles, with skulls, etc. I'm sure this evil has a toehold in all these Mexican communities
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 8:57 PM By JPeterman
I just noticed the guy calling for this "holy war" is named Romo. Lets pray to St. Toribio Romo to assist in the end of this evil cult.
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 11:06 PM By The other Mike
This is main stream Mexican Catholic culture. It is not the same as the culture of Catholics of Mexican heritage in the USA, or of Roman Catholics in general. We may be a universal church, but that doesn't mean we are all civilized Westerners.
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Posted Friday, April 10, 2009 12:08 AM By Anne T.
As with the rainbow. Some symbols can be used for good or evil. The so-called devotion to St. Death I am sure is evil. Never-the-less, there are lots of little figurines sold in Mexican and Mexican American stores of skeltons dressed in different outfits. Some of these I am sure are used for the fun of it, and quite often for the Day of the Dead around All Hallows Day, and not for evil. So when one sees such figurines one should not always assume they are used for evil.
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Posted Friday, April 10, 2009 6:58 AM By Mark from PA
This superstition is horrible. People need to focus more on the gospels and Christ to make Him a bigger part of their lives.
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Posted Friday, April 10, 2009 11:46 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
The other Mike, re.: "This is main stream Mexican Catholic culture". Where do you get the authority for such an incredible statement? Are you Mexican? Do you have ancestors who were Church leaders in Mexico? I could answer yes to all of those questions, and I find your statement to be insulting to me, to my Catholic relatives in Mexico and to my Catholic ancestors as well.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth Manuel Valenzuela Fisher, Founder & Chairman
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
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Posted Saturday, April 11, 2009 5:06 AM By Fr. M.P.
There is one thing one should do about death - that is be prepared at all times because when it happens, your soul will stand in front of the Just Judge Jesus and you will have to make an account for every jot and tittle of your life. Live every day as if you would die tonight, and your behavior will change for the better. The ultimate end of your soul is eternal life, with death being only a means to get there. Everyone has eternal life, the key is where will you spend that eternity?
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Posted Saturday, April 11, 2009 9:53 AM By Julio
To Mike,
What are you trying to imply with your comments? Are you trying to imply that Mexican culture is uncivilized? Maybe you want to clarify your comments Mr. Mike. So is pro abortion main stream American Catholic culture?
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Posted Saturday, April 11, 2009 2:07 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
Mike, perhaps you are confusing the Mexican practice of decorating their relatives graves on All Souls Day with this sick Cult. Nothing could be further from the truth. One is Catholic and the other Occult.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founder & Chairman
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
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Posted Saturday, April 11, 2009 4:33 PM By JLS
The other Mike, your post is not clear, as you can see from a couple of posts critical of it. It is rather difficult to criticize Mexico, as Our Lady appeared there in a big way even before the indigenous population had taken up with Catholicism. In short order ten million Mexicans joined Catholicism ... close to five hundred years ago. Yes, that nation engages in occasional civil wars and so forth, but compare it to "highly civilized Europe", Catholicized for two thousand years and consider World War I and World War II and the Gulags and what do you come up with? Also, why not take a trip to your local mall or visit your local school and see first hand what paganism is up to ... or just go to a movie. But of course murdering a million plus babies each year does not disrupt "civilization" because property is not layed to waste and people are not blown up by artillary or bombs, or cut down by machine guns, or chemically melted, the effects of which are the same as aborted babies put up with. So, of course if a society hides its atrocities, then it is civilized. Or if it commits its atrocities according to the rules set forth in documents, the of course it is civilized. If it builds more bridges then it is civilized ... more high tech widgets and planes and ships then it is more civilized ... gee I wonder about the definition of "civilization".
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Posted Saturday, April 11, 2009 4:50 PM By Talithia Kumi
This story would have been just fine with out the quoted curse (prayer?) thank you very much.
Fr. M.P. yes. You are prudent to remind us how very thin is the veil for each of us; one moment a creature in time and next a disembodied (temporarily) eternal soul prostrated in fear before the one True GOD and our Judge
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Posted Monday, April 13, 2009 12:50 PM By The other Mike
Ouch! You are all right and I am totally wrong about Mexico! It is truly a highly civilized society on a par with and possibly superior to Europe and the USA!!! I think we all agree that pagenism is spread thick across all countries and to say one nation is more pagen than another is not politically correct. After all, we have abortion and consumerism while some other nations have massive criminal gangs, corrupt government, and extensive institutionalized poverty. Western civilization has a violent past (Goths, Huns, etc.) and Mexico has the Aztec heritage. Mexico is rich with natural resources and it's people are generally clever and hard working, and are not criminals. The country just doesn't appear to have grown up as well as the USA since Europeans came here.
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Posted Monday, April 13, 2009 3:03 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
Mike, if you knew the true History of both Mexico and the U.S., you would know that when the Cristeros were winning, Woodrow Wilson illegaly sent the U.S. Fleet to Vera Cruz Harbor to stop the supplies. The Cristeros were fighting the secular humanist Masons and Woodrow was a 33rd Degree Mason. Even Teddy Roosevelt condemned this illegal action. Had the Cristeros succeeded, Mexico might have had a much greater system than they and we have now. But that is really not the point, the point was that you implied that this death worship was common with "Mexican main stream Catholic culture", and that is simply not true.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founder & Chairman
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
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Posted Monday, April 13, 2009 5:14 PM By The other Mike
Kenneth, I'm sure you are more familar with the history of Mexico than me, and I pray that the Mexican people will find politicans that will serve the people's best interests. As to the article at hand, the drug gangs in Mexico use "Santa Muerte" to threaten their victims because, well, it is recognized by and it works on their victims. A "Saint of Death" threat would not have a similar effect on American Catholics. If there was a chance it might have an effect, Pelosi and Kennedy would already have tried it!
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Posted Wednesday, April 15, 2009 12:21 AM By Kenneth M. Fisher
The other Mike, when are you going to stop putting your foot in your mouth? It is only recognized by those Mexicans who are into that crazy Cult, mostly also into the Drug culture, not most Catholic Mexicans!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founder & Chairman
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
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Posted Wednesday, April 15, 2009 11:22 AM By The other Mike
Well Kenneth, Father Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City appears to think it is worthy of a general announcement to the people of Mexico, and several bishops have warned against the devotion. The spokesman for the archdiocese stressed that the bishops have limited themselves to “clarifying for the people that this devotion is superstitious and can lead to demonic practices, and that they should be very careful because it is not something insignificant or inoffensive.” Why did the Church in Mexico go to all that trouble if "Santa Muerte" is only understood by drug gangs?
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Posted Thursday, April 16, 2009 6:47 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
Mike, they did so because it is their God given duty to warn their flocks of anything than can be of danger to their immortal souls, not because it is "common practice".
I never said it was only practiced by drug gangs. Read my comments again.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts, Kenneth M. Fisher, Founder & Chairman Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
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Posted Friday, April 17, 2009 10:43 PM By The other Mike
Kenneth, good enough! I read your comments and I re-read the article. I'll keep praying for the people of Mexico.
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Posted Saturday, April 25, 2009 1:02 AM By Maese Delta
Your prayers are most welcome, people! I myself being a mexican and having witnessed people attending to those chapels... I agree with the one who said that this cult should NEVER be confused with our tradition of Día de Muertos. On that day we remember our beloved deceased ones and write songs and poems that mock death. This cult seems to remind of the Aztecs' Mictlantecuhtli, and practices of witchcraft.
As you know, along with the worshipping of Jesus Malverde (who was kind of a Robin Hood... but turned out into a protector of drug-dealers), most of the people who practice this belief live in conditions that can easily lead them to a life of crime and vices.
It'll be needed more than prayers and a fine education to get rid of all this wickedness. We cannot let that our primal search for everything good in our life simply disappears.
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