Devotion to ‘saint death’ is useless, says Mexican archbishop

Mexico City, Mexico, Nov 28, 2008 / 12:47 pm

Archbishop Jose Ulises Macias Salcedo of Hermosillo said this week the devotion to “Saint Death” does not protect those who “pray” to him from anything and that those who believe in it are “badly misguided.”

 

According to the newspaper El Imparcial, “these things begin to take hold in the heart and people begin to believe in them.”  The devotion to this false saint gained strength in the recent past and “there are still some small chapels” dedicated to the practice along certain highways,” the archbishop explained. 

 

“I think people are beginning to realize they were fooled and that there is a God.  There is a saying that if you don’t know the true God, you’ll bow down before any old tree.  So if there is a God, what else are we looking for?” he asked.

 

The devotion to “Saint Death” has been condemned by the Archdiocese of Mexico on several occasions, which has stressed that it is not compatible with the Catholic faith.