MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Say goodbye to the intimidating scythe-wielding skeleton of “Santa Muerte” revered by some of Mexico’s most violent drug traffickers.
In a house transformed into a sanctuary in the popular center of Mexico City, “father” David Romo and his acolytes “canonized” the new image of death, the “White Lady” to whom prisoners in Mexico often ask for miracles.
He added that after searching the Bible, he found “that one can ask, raise a prayer (…) to the angel of Santa Muerte” and invited his parishioners to abandon “ignorance” and venerate Death in its new and less terrifying figure.
In the poorest neighborhoods of Mexico it is easy to find altars dedicated to Santa Muerte, sometimes dressed in a white dress and a crown on her emaciated skull.
But on Sunday at the Mexico City sanctuary, the ceremony was accompanied by Christian hymns and dozens of families brought their children to be baptized before the altar of Santa Muerte.
A few steps inside the building, young people behind a small counter were selling images, candles, medals and even music CDs with the figure of Death.
/By Tomás Sarmiento/.*.
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