'Santa Muerte' cult leading to 'notable increase' of demonic activity in Mexico, exorcist warns

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, January 04, 2024

A believer with a tattoo of the Santa La Muerte on his hand, lights a candle during a ceremony in honour of the folk saint at the sanctuary 'Honor hacia mi Señor - El Origen,' in Avellaneda, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, on August 20, 2023. San La Muerte, with thousands of followers in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, has become one of the most beloved and controversial pagan saints. Devotees visit the sanctuary, specially between August 15 and 20, to thank him for favours received and ask for help in difficult situations, while leaving bottles of liquor, candles, flowers, bills, cigarettes as offerings. — A believer with a tattoo of the Santa La Muerte on his hand, lights a candle during a ceremony in honour of the folk saint at the sanctuary "Honor hacia mi Señor - El Origen," in Avellaneda, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, on August 20, 2023. San La Muerte, with thousands of followers in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, has become one of the most beloved and controversial pagan saints. Devotees visit the sanctuary, specially between August 15 and 20, to thank him for favours received and ask for help in difficult situations, while leaving bottles of liquor, candles, flowers, bills, cigarettes as offerings. | LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images

A Roman Catholic priest and exorcist in Mexico has warned that the growth of the "Santa Muerte" cult is leading to a "notable increase" in demonic activity in the country, including demonic possession.

Father Andrés Esteban López Ruiz, who has served as an exorcist in the Archdiocese of Mexico since 2006, penned an article for the Rome-based International Association of Exorcists last month claiming that the Santa Muerte cult — whose idol is a female personification of death — is satanic and steeped in occult rituals, as noted by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-speaking version of Catholic News Agency.

Warning that the swelling ranks of the cult's adherents "implicitly or explicitly worship Satan, risking submitting themselves to him and experiencing his extraordinary action," he also said that the "proliferation of this cult has led to a notable increase in the extraordinary action of the devil" where it is practiced.

Father Andrés Esteban López Ruiz, above, who has served as an exorcist in the Archdiocese of Mexico since 2006, warned the cult of Santa Muerte is leading to a 'notable increase' in demonic activity. — Father Andrés Esteban López Ruiz, above, who has served as an exorcist in the Archdiocese of Mexico since 2006, warned the cult of Santa Muerte is leading to a "notable increase" in demonic activity. | Andrés Esteban López Ruiz/Facebook

Tracing Santa Muerte's origins to the 1960s and noting its explosion in popularity after being promoted in Mexico City's Tepito market, López said that while it is not a "pre-Hispanic" cult, Santa Muerte has "a recent origin and distant past."

The cult's obsession with death and the underworld is reminiscent of the pre-Hispanic cults that dominated the region before the arrival of Christian Europeans, though it often syncretizes Catholic teachings, he said.

The exorcist further noted that many of the cult's occult rituals emerged from Catemaco, a town in the Mexican state of Veracruz infamous for its traditions of "witchcraft, shamanism, and occultism."

The confluence in the region of "Brazilian quimbanda, Cuban Santeria, pre-Hispanic cultures, and occult satanism" have led to what López described as "the Mexican version of satanic worship" that finds its expression in Santa Muerte.

López said adherents of Santa Muerte will sometimes make "formal pacts with the devil" in exchange for supernatural powers, riches and good fortune, and that even if someone has not made a formal pact, "they at least do so internally."

“These very serious sins place those who commit them under the direct control of Satan and, with divine permission, can easily become occasions for his extraordinary action,” he warned.

López noted that exorcists have even encountered possessions and demonic attacks against people who have partaken of drugs that were formally offered to the Santa Muerte idol.

Santa Muerte is also inextricable with many of the crimes afflicting Mexico, such as "robbery, smuggling, fraud, murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking and human trafficking," which has prompted the Mexican government to view it as a national security threat, López wrote.

"Prisons, in particular, have become privileged places for this cult and there does not appear to be a single prison in Mexico where it is not practiced," he said.

Noting that Mexican bishops have openly declared Santa Muerte to be "a cult of Satan," López advised the Catholic Church to offer "a pastoral response" to its spiritual evil by offering "Gospel proclamation, catechesis, and education," as well as sacraments and prayer.

"However, in many cases, major exorcism is necessary to assist all those people who have suffered the cruel wounds of Satan through the cult they paid to the 'Santa Muerte,'" he added.