DOI
10.32436/2475-6423.1210
Abstract
Devotion to La Santa Muerte, a Mexican folk saint who personifies Death, has
been condemned by the Catholic Church for its affiliation with Mexican drug
cartels. This article challenges mainstream interpretations of La Santa Muerte
devotion using the theological framework of characteristic damage, as defined
by Lauren Winner and Paul J. Griffiths. This framework understands liturgy
as celebrated by sinners in a damaged world, and therefore necessarily damaged
itself. As much as liturgy and Christian practice form us for good, they also per-
petuate damage. I argue that the sins present in La Santa Muerte veneration are
an expression of characteristic damage in folk saint practices and, therefore, in
canonization itself. For those at the margins of institutions of power, canonized
saints and the very idea of holiness feel inaccessible because the canonization
process reiterates worldly dynamics of class, race, and gender. Individuals in-
stead seek out folk saints who fit with the marginalization and moral realities of
their own lives.
Recommended Citation
Webber, Ellen
(2026)
"La Santa Muerte and the Characteristic Damage of Canonization,"
Journal of Global Catholicism:
Vol. 10:
Iss.
3, Article 3. p.50-83.
DOI: 10.32436/2475-6423.1210
Available at:
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/jgc/vol10/iss3/3
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