Lost Souls and Adopted Skulls at Naples’ Fontanelle Cemetery

Last updated on: June 2, 2025 at 1:26 pm By Andrew Chesnut

Deep in the heart of Naples, where the tuff stone (a type of limestone typical of the area) meets collective memory, a cult survives—one that speaks not only of death, but also of connection, hope, and invisible justice. It is the cult of the ànime pezzentelle: poor, forgotten souls without names or histories who, thanks to a bond of popular piety, are adopted by the living. An intimate and communal gesture that intertwines spirituality, magic, anthropology, and material culture. In... Read more

Pope Bob – Why a Progressive American Pontiff Now?

Last updated on: May 10, 2025 at 10:14 am By Andrew Chesnut

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When white smoke curled above the Sistine Chapel on May 8 and Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost stepped onto the loggia as Leo XIV, the jubilation in St. Peter’s Square masked a deeper story of why the College of Cardinals reached for a Chicago‑born Augustinian missionary to lead a 1.4 billion‑member church at a moment of geopolitical fracture and relentless Catholic attrition in the Americas. Five intertwined factors—his unapologetic pro‑migrant advocacy, open opposition to the Trump‑Vance brand of jingoism, a social vision noticeably to the left of most... Read more

Will Cardinal Tagle Be The First Asian Pope in 1,284 Years?

Last updated on: May 6, 2025 at 8:00 am By Andrew Chesnut

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In the wake of Pope Francis’s death on 21 April 2025, the College of Cardinals will soon file into the Sistine Chapel to elect the 267th successor of Peter. While many Vatican handicappers still tout the familiar Italian favorite, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a growing bloc of electors created by Francis himself is turning its gaze farther east—toward Filipino prelate Cardinal Luis Antonio “Chito” Tagle. The former archbishop of Manila is hardly a long-shot. Journalists have already christened him the “Asian... Read more

San Amlito: Ex-President AMLO as Mexico’s Newest Folk Saint

Last updated on: February 19, 2025 at 4:17 pm By Andrew Chesnut

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The love and admiration that many Mexicans have for former president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) persist even months after the end of his presidency. He has undoubtedly cemented his place as one of the most beloved political figures in the nation’s history. Although the former president is now retired and his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, has taken the reins of power, the deep appreciation many Mexicans feel for him remains palpable. Since the start of his presidency in 2018, AMLO’s... Read more

Street Shrine to Satan and Santa Muerte Removed in Mexico

Last updated on: January 16, 2025 at 3:52 pm By Andrew Chesnut

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In my four decades of research, travel, and living in Mexico I have seen hundreds of street and roadside shrines across the country. As you might imagine in a country that is 77% Catholic, the great majority of the shrines are dedicated to Catholic saints, especially the Virgin of Guadalupe, Saint Jude, Patron of Lost Causes, and various advocations of the Christ Child. However, since the folk saint of death, Santa Muerte, is the fastest growing new religious movement in... Read more

Find It or Else! Saint Anthony of Padua

Last updated on: November 26, 2024 at 7:57 am By Andrew Chesnut

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By Guest Contributor Judika Illes* Can’t find your purse? Lost your keys? You’ve misplaced something crucial. You know it’s around here somewhere, but you can’t find it. Who can help you? Saint Anthony, that’s who. Among the most beloved of all saints, Anthony of Padua celebrates his feast on June 13, smack in the heart of Gemini season, the zodiac sign symbolized by twins, and so perhaps it is appropriate that Anthony is a saint possessing a dual nature. There... Read more

No Lost Cause: Saint Jude, Mexico’s Top Catholic Saint

Last updated on: October 28, 2024 at 8:46 am By Andrew Chesnut

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Practically unknown in Mexico before the 1980s, Saint Jude Thaddeus has catapulted to the top position among Catholic saints in the country with the world’s second largest Catholic population, which will soon surpass Brazil for the top spot. No other Catholic saint rivals the popularity of San Judas. Only the Virgin of Guadalupe and folk saint Santa Muerte can compete with St. Jude for Mexican souls. And over the past two decades, competition between the nation’s number one Catholic saint... Read more

Catholic Friar Claims Santa Muerte Originated in Ecuador

Last updated on: October 22, 2024 at 1:59 pm By Andrew Chesnut

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By Guest Contributor Walter Walgraeve, Bishop Emeritus* In recent years, Santa Muerte, the “Saint of Death,” has grown into a popular and powerful figure, especially in Mexico. People often turn to her when they seek help with health, love, or even protection in dangerous situations. But where did this mysterious figure come from? One recent publication, a booklet by Father Robert Nixon, Doña Sebastiana: The Original Santa Muerte, makes an intriguing but bogus claim: it suggests that the roots of... Read more

Why is Pope Francis Increasingly Unpopular in the Americas?

Last updated on: September 29, 2024 at 11:07 am By Andrew Chesnut

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The declining popularity of Pope Francis in both Latin America and the United States, as revealed by the Pew Research Center survey, can be attributed to several significant factors. Although the pope remains widely popular among Catholics, his favorability ratings have decreased notably since the beginning of his papacy in 2013. This decline in popularity is largely influenced by his stances on issues related to contraception, the priesthood, and sexuality—topics that divide opinion among Catholics across different countries. Analyzing these... Read more

The Dance of the Black Death

Last updated on: September 10, 2024 at 1:25 pm By Andrew Chesnut

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By Guest Contributor Rogue Art Historian* Buonamico Buffalmacco’s The Dance of Death (Il Trionfo della Morte) at the Camposanto Monumentale in Pisa is one of the most striking and haunting frescoes of the medieval period. Painted in the 14th century, the work exemplifies the era’s preoccupation with mortality and the afterlife, likely reflecting the social, religious, and political context of the time. This fresco also illustrates the artistic evolution of Buffalmacco, a painter known for his contribution to the progression... Read more