Santa Muerte (Saint Death) worship is on the rise in the United States, winning
a robust and 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.
Naturally, S.M. appears in the crime world:
The AP story quotes U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte in West Texas as saying that he has testified about La Santa Muerte in at least five drug trafficking cases where her image aided prosecutors with convictions.
“Criminals pray to La Santa Muerte to protect them from law enforcement,” Almonte said. “But there are good people who pray to her who aren’t involved in any criminal activity so we have to be careful.”
What a fine worship for our grim times. Perhaps She will replace zombies and vampires in the near future of our collective imagination.
We first noted this deathly faith three years ago.
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