The Santa Muerte, "Holy Death," a Mexican cult figure that has emerged recently, and Jesus Malverde, the "Saint of Sinaloa," are considered saints by some Mexicans but are not recognized by the Catholic Church. The devotion to these figures is real and has grown in some of the nation's poorest neighborhoods. Followers of Jesus Malverde and "the skinny girl" or "the little white girl," as the Santa Muerte is also known, claim that these saints are powerful. The Catholic Church rejects them but has not been able to stamp them out. teleSUR.
