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With the arrival of the European population and with the missionaries, the rituals of the day of the death underwent a process of inculturation. The feast of the god of the underworld joined together with the celebration of the dead.

The natives celebrated rituals to the god of the underworld and to the deceased during the month of August, which coincided with the harvest of the fruits of the earth, which served ‘to feed the souls’. In the Catholic Church the celebration of all the Saints and the commemoration of the deceased faithful were already celebrated on the dates we know today.

The missionaries when seeing those pre-Hispanic traditions and rites opted for an inculturation, turning the meaning of offerings and some rites. The gospel gradually came alive in popular culture, contributing elements, and purifying many other negatives of local culture.

The traditional offerings revolved around Christ: today, for example, the presence of an image of Christ or a crucifix in the offering cannot be missing, which reminds us that he is the victor of death.

Current challenges

However, today there is a great pastoral challenge. Because of the great influence of other countries, little by little Halloween has been introduced. Many children are now seen asking for candy disguised as some "demonic" character.

To counteract this, many Catholic initiatives, at the parish and diocesan levels, have been developed. The 'Holywins', for example, is an invitation to children and young people to dress in some Saint, to testify to the communion of the militant Church (that we are the living) and the triumphant Church (those who already enjoy life eternal), praying for the purgative Church (found in purgatory), and thus transmit a message of life and a call to holiness.

Pope Francis in 2014 affirmed that “the memory of the deceased, the care of the graves and the suffrages are testimonies of confident hope, rooted in the certainty that death is not the last word about human fate, since the man is destined for a life without limits, whose root and realization are in God. ”