Pope Leo, The Liberation Theologian?

Last updated on: October 11, 2025 at 3:00 pm By Andrew Chesnut

From the vantage of Latin America’s long tradition of “theology from the below,” Pope Leo XIV has already signaled what many liberation theologians call the “precarious continuity” of prophetic insistence: continuity, yes, but never without the need for creative fidelity. In his first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te (“I Have Loved You”), Leo explicitly frames poverty not as an incidental pastoral concern but as a structural challenge calling for ecclesial conversion. My three decades of research on Latin American religious movements... Read more

First Santa Muerte Temple in Guatemala Razed in Arson Attack

Last updated on: September 14, 2025 at 11:18 am By Andrew Chesnut

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In the predawn hours of September 13, yet another assault was carried out against the Centro Encanto de Keme in Cantel, Quetzaltenango. Unknown assailants forced their way into the sanctuary and torched religious images, reducing the temple to ashes and leaving its owners reeling. “They knocked everything down and burned it—absolutely everything,” one of them told the local press. This was not random vandalism. It was deliberate, premeditated, and aimed at extinguishing the heart of Guatemala’s first Santa Muerte temple.... Read more

Maria La Sposa: The Italian Skeleton Bride As Folk Saint

Last updated on: August 29, 2025 at 2:08 pm By Andrew Chesnut

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In the heart of Torre Annunziata (Naples), amidst the shadows of the Vesuvian cemeteries, endures a story where faith, mystery, and ritual converge. Maria la Sposa (“Maria the Bride”), often called the “Neapolitan Santa Muerte,” is a fascinating and controversial figure who has survived both time and ecclesiastical prohibition to remain alive in collective memory. The cult traces back to a tragedy on December 29, 1939, when a train from Reggio Calabria crashed at the Torre Annunziata station, killing many... Read more

Trump Enshrines Evangelical Nationalism

Last updated on: August 12, 2025 at 8:48 am By Andrew Chesnut

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Public Displays of Evangelical Nationalism From the outset of his return to office, President Donald Trump has moved with calculated precision to institute Evangelical priorities into federal policy. The creation of the White House Faith Office, in February of this year, and the Religious Liberty Commission in May are far from neutral expansions of religious voice in government—they are institutional platforms to reward Trump’s Evangelical base. Both are spun as defending religious freedom for all, but their agendas are... Read more

Lost Souls and Adopted Skulls at Naples’ Fontanelle Cemetery

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

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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

What kind of bird did Noah send out second from the ark?