By Randy Fitch
As a Christian, you might ask how any entity other than God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, could be looked to for aid while holding any claim to being a Christian. I mention that because her followers still hold tightly to their Catholic Christian faith. This is where, at least to Christians outside Catholicism, things get a bit sticky. Many in the U.S. protestant Christian population would recognize praying to entities other than God is strictly against the rules. However, protestant Christians only make up around one-third of Christians worldwide. In Catholicism, the veneration of, and prayers for, the intercession of saints are accepted and encouraged.
That said, my goal isn’t to start a dispute between protestant Christians and Catholic Christians regarding the saints but rather for protestant Christians to recognize this belief exists in a large part of the Christian population. The Catholic Church is concise in its doctrine regarding the difference between asking what is considered a past hero of the Christian faith to be a mediator to God versus the actual worship of a saint as a God. However, in my study of the Catholic faith and its complex history, I think it’s apparent the veneration of saints may have unintentionally provided paths away from God to those not well-versed in church doctrine. This fact has manifested in multiple ways over the sixteen hundred-plus years the Church has existed.
To be clear, the Santa Muerte is not accepted as a saint by the Catholic Church. Saints are scrutinized to prove their legitimacy. And the Church not only isn’t considering the Holy Death for sainthood, it denounces her as a pathway to Satan. So, take heed, protestants and Catholics alike, the Santa Muerte does not have a place in any form of Christianity.
Claiming the Santa Muerte is a Catholic Saint doesn’t hold water regardless. Because any saint in Catholicism, even the uncanonized, is supposed to be one with a special place in heaven that intercedes for a living person on earth to ask God for special aid. A saint is not a supernatural force that can provide power independently from God. Ergo, if her followers ask the Santa Muerte herself to grant wishes, she is not a saint. If they claimed they had an unruly angel on their hands, that would be a different story, and possibly the more likely one, which is a topic to drill down on in the future.
The academics claim a folk saint, however, doesn’t fit the definition the Church holds. A folk saint, instead, is a locally manifested entity. This supernatural force can be called on for aid that perhaps doesn’t abide by the rules of the governing religious doctrine.
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