Is Dia de los Muertos a Catholic Holiday?

This past weekend I had the opportunity of attending a parish with a large Hispanic population. This was a rather old Church which still had a few side altars. Being that it was the beginning of November, one of the side altars was decked out with Dia de los Muertos ("Day of the Dead") decorations. The old altar (dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus) was covered with a multitude of macabre looking skulls, each made of a different material, some brightly colored but many white. There was a large, lifesize coffin covered in flowers and pictures of many of the deceased of the parish. Most striking were two figures that I can only describe as grim reapers: skeletal creatures draped in black cloaks holding little scythes that apparently were purchased right from Halloween USA. A member of the parish told us how is was a beautiful Hispanic tradition and said that it was their way of celebrating All Souls' Day. But is this really a Catholic holiday?

I believe, and have always believed, that this holiday is highly suspect. First of all, it 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. Does that automatically mean it cannot be Christianized? Of course not; we have Christianized several holy days that were originally pagan feast days. However, in our case, the ancient rituals that the pagans and Zeus-worshippers once performed are lost in the mists of time and our current rituals are completely Christian in character. 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. Other than that, it still manifests all the beliefs and trappings of the demonically inspired Aztec culture. Remember, this was not simply "their way" of finding the true God; the gods of the nations are demons, as the Scriptures say (Deut. 37:12, Ps. 96:5) and pagan rituals can in no way be permitted. When the Church does Christianize something pagan, the whole pagan essence of the ritual is removed and replaced by Catholic truth. In the case of Day of the Dead, we have only the name changing while the substance remains pagan Aztec.

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.

Day of the Dead altar in Oaxaca, Mexico

Yet this is exactly what happens on the Day of the Dead. Food, incense and offerings are made on altars to the souls of the dead. Through this (and through the ritual consumption of a sugar skull), the celebrants believe they are having communion with the dead. Unmentioned is any question as to whether or not the dead are among the blessed or not; there is no distinction between the Church Triumphant and the Church Suffering; the communion is simply with "the dead," irrespective of their final destiny. Food and drink are offered to the dead with the most antiquated pagan understanding that the souls of the dead consume this offering.

Day of the Dead skulls; eating of these sugar skulls is believed to bring about a real communion with the dead

This is another reason why I am very skeptical about the supposed future of the Church in Latin America. The fact that most Catholics in the world are Hispanic does not in any way fill me with joy, because I believe that the level of catechesis and cultural penetration of the Gospel in those countries is very negligible. Sure, after England, France, etc. were converted, there was a period when pagan customs were still being practiced. But there was a concerted effort to Christianize them and to root out the elements that were too obviously anti-Christian. But in this case, we have the Aztec origins of the ceremonies being publicly celebrated and the Christian symbolism being pushed aside.

I urge you all to research the origins and celebration of this sacrilege and speak out against it whenever you can.

More on the Church in Latin America: Why I have little hope for the supposed "Hispanic future" of the Church