Exorcism rituals on the rise as way to battle evil of Mexican cartels

.... The convict — who was incarcerated for murder and kidnapping — converted to Catholicism in 2012 and began a new, nonviolent life, the priest said. He's heard the man secured an early prison release, but doesn't know his whereabouts, Caro said.


"God sends me these people," said the exorcist for the Diocese of Monterrey.

Exorcism is on the rise as a weapon against the ever-escalating violence of drug cartels, priests and religious experts say. Though no one keeps statistics, priests say the heightened frequency is fueled by the growing popularity of Santa Muerte (St. Death), the favorite saint of narcotics syndicates and about 10 million followers around the world, an estimated 2 million of them in Mexico.

The female folk icon is depicted as a skeleton shrouded in a cloak, a la the Grim Reaper, in statues that are ubiquitous in Mexican shops and roadside stands. Sometimes sporting a tiara, sometimes covered in cash, Santa Muerte is credited with everything from bringing wealth and health to protecting illegal drugs and the cartel criminals who ferry them.

The Vatican has condemned Santa Muerte’s followers as a Satanic cult. In Mexico, priests blame her cartel worshippers for bringing unprecedented acts of evil on ordinary citizens.

Since 2006, cartel violence has spun out of control in Mexico, with as many as 80,000 people killed by warring drug gangs. The savagery has escalated to such an extent that in some areas decapitated, dismembered and disemboweled bodies are an everyday sight

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