Is the Dia de los Muertos a Catholic holiday?

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Interesting blog article about it at Unam Sanctam Catholicam:
I believe, and have always believed, that this holiday is highly suspect. First of all, it is very well known and attested that this was originally an Aztec holiday that was celebrated in one form or another for at least a thousand years before the coming of the Spaniards. It’s purpose was to honor the Aztec goddess Mictecacihuatl who in Aztec mythology was sacrificed as as infant. This historical pedigree is well attested, which means unlike similar accusations of the pagan origin of All Saints Day, Dia de los Muertos is most certainly pagan in nature.

Does that automatically mean it cannot be Christianized? Of course not; we have Christianized many customs that were originally pagan in character. But what is often forgotten is that just because some things can be Christianized does not mean everything can be. Is there a way to Christianize the fascination with the emblems of death that permeate this festival?

Furthermore, if we are going to proclaim a custom Christianized, it would be nice if it was actually Christianized to some degree. In the case of the Day of the Dead, nothing has been Christianized about it except the fact that it is celebrated around the same time as All Souls’ Day.
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I had a classmate who died in 9/11. A couple years later I visited his grave. In tribute I opened a beer, drank some of it and poured the rest out on the grave (as grad students we all drank a lot of beer ). It was just a friendly gesture, to think of myself having a beer with D. I did not think of it as having communion with the dead and I am well aware that where D is at (I presumed heaven as he was a Catholic and very nice, helpful person) he doesn’t physically drink beer and doesn’t need to.

I think whoever wrote that article is going to great lengths to read some sort of weird scary practice into a cultural tradition that many likely see as a friendly and honoring gesture.
 
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Uggg.

It’s so popular to hate on the Centeral Americans these days.

The author seems to be going to extremes to prove their point and enters into a tremendous amount of speculative territory regarding motivations of others.

My family celebrates St. Lucia’s day. Besides Italy, the primary people who celebrate it are Atheists who live in the Nordic countries. It has obvious pagan roots, especially given it was celebrated on the darkest day of the year. But it’s still a WONDERFUL feast day, no holds barred.
 
I like St. Lucia Day too, but I don’t think it is an accurate comparison.

If you read the full article, his problem was not that the holiday had pagan roots but that it has never actually been Christianized.
 
EnglishTeacher said:
I like St. Lucia Day too, but I don’t think it is an accurate comparison.

If you read the full article, his problem was not that the holiday had pagan roots but that it has never actually been Christianized.
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It sort of is. It’s a pretty secular “Saint based” holiday in the countries that observe it–sans Italy. The traditions have little to do with religion today and are based around ancient pagan traditions.

And I think this article takes the tact that it’s “never” been Christianized but I’m betting a number of Central Americans Catholics–and even evangelicals-- would whole heartedly disagree.
 
I’m just gonna celebrate everything, praying sincerely to Jesus and Mary throughout. Worriers gonna worry, haters gonna hate, nit pickers gonna pick nits, and policers gonna police.
 
This is a very interesting article, and it is sad that the Santa Muerte cult is gaining so much traction, despite complete disapproval from the Church.
 
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Proverbs 8:12- I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.

1 Thessalonians 5:21- But test everything; hold fast what is good.

Proverbs 13:16- In everything the prudent acts with knowledge.

The celebration itself seems on par with Halloween. The article merely shows there’s the potential for over emphasizing pagan traditions and not considering Catholic ones such as having masses said for the departed. We do not know the certain fate of anyone outside of canonized saints. Food offerings won’t reduce purgatory. That being said, I believe this thread has respectfully presented viewpoints and has definitely increased my knowledge on the Day of the Dead.
 
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Yes, it is called All Souls Day and is part of the Roman calendar. With Halloween and All Saint’s day preceding it, it is like a three day feast. I think this blogger is conflating the questionable practices of the holiday with the holiday.

How is this “fascination with death,” all that different from our Ash Wednesday, where everyone is told, “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return?”
 
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pnewton said:
Yes, it is called All Souls Day and is part of the Roman calendar. With Halloween and All Saint’s day preceding it, it is like a three day feast. I think this blogger is conflating the questionable practices of the holiday with the holiday.
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All Souls Day of course is part of the Roman calendar. (Halloween is not; it is a folk holiday, and you could argue that there are questionable practices associated with it, somewhat like “Day of the Dead.”)
pnewton said:
How is this “fascination with death,” all that different from our Ash Wednesday, where everyone is told, “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return?”
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I don’t think that was his central concern. To quote the article:
The most problematic in the celebration of the Day of the Dead is the construction of altars and sacrifices offered to the deceased. Anybody who knows Catholic theology understands that (a) an altar can indeed be dedicated to a saint, but not to the souls in Purgatory or the souls of departed loved ones (b) even if an altar is dedicated to a saint, the sacrifice is always offered to God, and God can apply the merits of the sacrifice to the souls in Purgatory. Never, ever do we offer sacrifices to our departed loved ones. That would be idolatry.
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Now, does the author misunderstand or misinterpret this aspect of Dia de los Muertos? Perhaps; I don’t know. Maybe someone who celebrates Dia de los Muertos could weigh in. If he is correct, though, I think it is indeed a problem.
 
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EnglishTeacher said:
Never, ever do we offer sacrifices to our departed loved ones. That would be idolatry.
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Except this is not necessarily true. We offer flowers to the Virgin Mary. That is not idolatry. Equating honor of the dead with idolatry is exactly what Protestants accuse Catholics of. I do not think anyone believes their loved ones divine. Making some form of commemoration is not the same as a sacrifice. You may pour a drink for a loved one, set flowers on the grave, leave a favorite toy for a child. This is not a sacrifice to the loved one, any more than a head stone. We can even pray to the deceased.

My community is active in this celebration, but there is not worship of ancestors or veneration of St. Death. I except this can be problematic, and idolatry, but as the Church recognized this holiday, I see no reason to discourage legitimate spirituality. Just don’t do it, if you are uncomfortable with it.

One more thing, I really like having an English teacher on board here.
 
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pnewton said:
Yes, it is called All Souls Day and is part of the Roman calendar. With Halloween and All Saint’s day preceding it, it is like a three day feast. I think this blogger is conflating the questionable practices of the holiday with the holiday.

How is this “fascination with death,” all that different from our Ash Wednesday, where everyone is told, “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return?”
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It’s my understanding, too, that the whole Santa Muerta cult-thing is a fairly recent phenomenon, at least in popularity, and is separate from cultural celebrations of Dia de los Muertos.
 
Dia de los Muertos is a Catholic holiday. It is part of the universal calendar. It is celebrated all over the world. In addition to being popular in Mexico I understand that it was popular in New Orleans. Fr. Ciszek wrote that it was celebrated in a similar manner in Siberia where he lived.
 
I think we need to be clear here from a standpoint of giving correct Catholic information. I have no problem with people celebrating Dia de Los Muertos, but it is NOT a Catholic holiday and it is NOT the same as All Souls Day (which is what is on the calendar).

In some places people celebrate Dia de Los Muertos and All Souls Day together. All Souls Day originated in Europe while Dia de los Muertos originated in Mexico, and spread to New Orleans and other places in the South from there. Dia de Los Muertos is not celebrated in other parts of the US outside the Southwest and a few cities in the South, except maybe if you have a Hispanic parish in the North the people there might (or might not) have a small celebration in connection with All Souls Day.

I don’t know what they do in Siberia - they might have their own practice for visiting or commemorating the dead, as many cultures do have such a practice, but unless a lot of Mexicans have moved there, it’s not related to Dia de Los Muertos.

Source: Día de los Muertos and All Souls Day | U.S. Catholic
 
poche said:
Dia de los Muertos is a Catholic holiday. It is part of the universal calendar. It is celebrated all over the world. In addition to being popular in Mexico I understand that it was popular in New Orleans. Fr. Ciszek wrote that it was celebrated in a similar manner in Siberia where he lived.
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Tis_Bearself said:
I think we need to be clear here from a standpoint of giving correct Catholic information. I have no problem with people celebrating Dia de Los Muertos, but it is NOT a Catholic holiday and it is NOT the same as All Souls Day (which is what is on the calendar).
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I can see where both of these might be true. Holidays and celebrations are fluid across the years. Just look at all the pagan roots in Christmas, while we have even in the name, Christ’s Mass. So, while the roots of Dia de los Muertos celebrated by pagans in Mexico is not the same as All Soul’s Day, I do not think its move to November 2nd coincidence. The way we celebrate it is more important than what it is called. Remembering the deceased, praying for them, blessing graves, are all very Catholic practices. Worship of death is not. Candy skulls and skeletons are neutral. I bet fifty years from now practices will merge these two even more. I am calling it now. We will hang skull ornaments and pictures of loved ones from a skeleton. 😁
 
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I’m sure it’s not a coincidence as the Church has a long history of Christianizing the pagan holidays and making them legit celebrations. “Easter” is actually the pagan name of that day.

However, All Souls Day was the Catholic holiday here and already on the calendar for centuries by the time the Church happened upon Dia de Los Muertos and made it part of the day.

The skeleton stuff is artsy and cute, I enjoy seeing it when I visit the Southwest US.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
I’m sure it’s not a coincidence as the Church has a long history of Christianizing the pagan holidays and making them legit celebrations. “Easter” is actually the pagan name of that day.
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Keep in mind that Easter is only used in Germanic languages. Every other language uses some version of Pasha, which is derived from Passover. Does that mean that we Americans and Germans, along with others who speak the same languages, aren’t really celebrating the Resurrection because we call it something different and our cultural celebration has aspects of pagan origin?
 
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