El sitio web donde se aloja el documento original advierte que las opiniones vertidas en la publicación FMSO son responsabilidad del autor y no representan necesariamente la politica y ni la posición oficial del Departamento de la Armada, ni del Departamento de Defensa, ni del Gobierno Norteamericano.
En este fragmento del texto se habla del registro que obtuvo la iglesia de la Santa Muerte y luego fue cancelada debido a las presiones de jerarcas católicos.
The Lord of the Rings
The Santa Muerte cult appears to have little, if any, official organization. However, one personality is at the forefront of the cult. Monsignor David Romo Guillén, 47, AKA the Lord of the Rings (El Señor de los Anillos) is the Archbishop and Primate of the so-called Mexican-U.S. Catholic Apostolic Traditional Church (Católica Apostólica Tradicional México-USA AKA la Iglesia Católica Tradicionalista Mex-USA). Romo is a married father of five and a veteran of the Mexican Air Force, in which he claims to have served as an administrator. He is also the self-professed leader and guardian of the Santa Muerte cult. Since 2002, he has been leading masses at the National Sanctuary of Santa Muerte, located at Bravo 35 in the in Venustian Carranza delegation. Romo now boasts an attendance of 200-300 parishioners, mostly youths, at each mass. Many of these youths dress up in costumes for the occasion.[72] The masses are held at midnight.[73]
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“Approximately 80 or 90 people [visit] daily, coming with their families, alone, or with companions. Likewise, we have an attendance of 200 or 300 persons twice weekly,” states Romo.[77] He estimates that there are one million followers of Santa Muerte in Mexico.[78]
Romo is also an ardent defender of the cult. When José Guadalupe Martín Rábago, head of the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) (Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano), and Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera described the Santa Muerte Cult as Satanic, Romo filed a defamation complaint before the Public Ministry (Ministerio Público). Martín stated that he would request the Interior Secretariat (SEGOB) (Secretaría de Gobernación), headed by Interior Secretary (Secretario de Gobernación) Santiago Creel Miranda, to review the process of religious registration. Romo then stated that the devotion to Santa Muerte was not different from devotion to saints in other churches. He argued that Santa Muerte was a tool for evangelizing people in the marginalized sectors of society just as the Virgin of Guadalupe was a vehicle for converting Native Americans. At the time, SEGOB refused to intervene.[79]
In April 2005, however, despite a marches and protests by Santa Muerte adherents the previous month, SEGOB concluded in a 25-page resolution that the Santa Muerte Cult did not meet the qualifications for a religion and removed the Mexican-U.S. Catholic Apostolic Traditional Church from the list of recognized religions, citing theological doctrine dating back as far as the Council of Trent. Romo issued a call for Santa Muerte devotees to vote against Secretary Creel’s party, the National Action Party (PAN) (Partido Acción Nacional), and Creel himself in the 2006 Mexican Presidential Elections. Romo also began a series of meetings with Mexico City magistrates to promote social development and community service projects that would be undertaken by Santa Muerte adherents under the a new blanket organization, the National Association of Altars and Sanctuaries of Santa Muerte (Asociación Nacional de Altares y Santuarios de la Santa Muerte), which is effectively replacing the Mexican-U.S. Catholic Apostolic Traditional Church. The organization includes 100 of the 120 altars that display Santa Muerte in Mexico City.[80]
The irony in this conflict is that the very forces that initially sought to stamp out the cult seem to have had no effect on the numbers of people participating in it. However, the legal action has generated a large amount of press attention, which has offered legitimacy to Romo. Although there has been no historic guidance or central organization for the Santa Muerte cult, a sense of unity and order may be in the process of being established. Romo, who seems to have been little more than a leader of a local group, may become the effective leader.
