Hello, this is TCE number 41 Theology and Current Events on the Padre Peregrino podcast.

My name is Father Dave Nix and I'm joined today by Armando Valenzuela, former LA cop, former Marine.

I guess once a Marine always a Marine, right?

That's correct.

Well, welcome to the Padre Paraguero

You know podcast. Thank you for having me. So what we're going to talk about today is,

is Santamerte compatible with Catholicism? Many of you know that Santamerte is a dark

devotional that seemed to have come out of Mexico relatively recently. And Armando, he's half

Pima Indian, half Mexican, having worked as an L.A. cop, gone back to Mexico for funerals, he's seen

quite a bit. We're going to talk about, he's also very practicing Catholic, very devout Catholic.

So we're going to talk today about this question,

is Santamwerte compatible with Catholicism? Can you give us maybe the two-minute history of your

life? Tell us where you're born, raised, how you got to the Marines, how you got to L.A. Cops?

I was raised in South Central Los Angeles.

As a young man. Oh yeah, rough neighborhood. Tell us about that neighborhood.

Rough neighborhood. South Central is a high crime area. It's patrolled by

Los Angeles PD South Division and it's patrolled as well by the sheriffs, specifically

Compton area, which borders south central LA.

You got in a lot of fights as a kid?

I was race fighting.

He was raised fighting?

I was raised fighting.

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