SAN ANTONIO – All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church on November 1st.

Then, on November 2, the Catholic Church celebrates All Souls' Day, which falls on the day Dia de los Muertos is celebrated in Mexico and throughout the United States

Both honor our departed loved ones. Dr. Arturo Chavez, associate vice president for mission at the University of the Incarnate Word, explains that whether Mexicans or Mexican Americans are practicing Catholics or not, there are many connections between the two.

“Catholicism is part of our culture,” Chavez said. “It’s in our DNA, if you will, and Dia de los Muertos is one of those traditions that could easily merge between two cultures.”

Chavez said indigenous people of Mexico celebrated the dead with offerings and ofrendas and cared for the bones of their loved ones.

He said this would happen if the monarch butterflies returned to Mexico from their migration from the north. They viewed it as a symbol of the return of the souls of their loved ones.

This happened to coincide with the celebration of All Souls Day by Spanish Catholics.

“Our indigenous ancestors were very religious and didn’t need the Catholic Spanish to tell them there was life after death,” Chavez said. “They already believed that.”

The Catholic Church once did not accept these rituals and considered them superstitious, but Chávez said that changed after the Second Vatican Council over sixty years ago.

“This has really encouraged pastors to respect the culture and language of a people, and that culture is something sacred in that it is a means for all people to understand their faith and come to God,” Chavez said. “In recent years, many parishes have become integrated by setting up these ofrendas in the church and using them as a teachable moment. And there are some people who have never experienced it, and it’s not their culture, and they love it.”

Dia de los Muertos reminds the souls of our loved ones that we remember and honor them, similar to All Souls Day, when Catholics observe the memory of all the faithful who have died.

“A really central belief for us as Catholics is that we are in communion with one another and also with those who have died and moved on to their new lives,” Chavez said. “And then we talk about communion, and when we share the Eucharist, we communicate with these loved ones because they are part of our church. We honor them and pray not so much for them, but to say that we pray with you because we know that you are with us and know us personally.”