November 2016

Santa Muerte, the fastest-growing new religion

Mexico's "folk saint of death"

The cult of Santa Muerte has grown exponentially in the last 15 years, seemingly out of nowhere. Santa Muerte is often lumped into the same category as santeria or voodoo, but this folk religion is very different. Although Santa Muerte is indeed the saint of death, she is also the patron saint of criminals, underdogs, LGBT people, and the disenfranchised.