Senior Vatican Official Calls Santa Muerte "Blasphemous"

Cult growing in Mexico

MEXICO CITY, May 9 (UPI) -- The Mexican cult of Santa Muerte, or Holy Death, is "blasphemous," a senior Vatican official says.

The Rev. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council, said worship of the religious icon was a "degeneration of religion," the BBC reported.