The Vatican's culture minister says Mexico's folk Death Saint, the Santa Muerte, is a blasphemous symbol that should not be part of any religion.
The Santa Muerte is a skeletal figure of a cloaked woman with a scythe in her bony hand Photo: AFP
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi says worshipping such an icon is a degeneration of
religion.
"It's not religion just because it's dressed up like religion; it's a
blasphemy against religion", Cardinal Ravasi said.
The Santa Muerte is a skeletal figure of a cloaked woman with a scythe in her
bony hand. It is worshipped both by drug dealers in Mexico and by the
terrified people who live in drug-torn neighbourhoods.
Ravasi spoke on Wednesday at a dialogue among believers and non-believers in
Mexico City as part of the Vatican's "Courtyard of the Gentiles".
The programme was started in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI, who said the Roman
Catholic Church should hold such meetings so non-believers could get to know
God.
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