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The 50 Most Violent Cities in the World Are Mostly Catholic
Last Days Watchman ^ | Julio Severo

Posted on 12/02/2015 2:11:58 PM PST by juliosevero


The 50 Most Violent Cities in the World Are Mostly Catholic

By Julio Severo

Business Insider reported a new ranking of the world's most violent cities, explaining that a full one-third of global homicides occur in Latin America, even though the region has just 8% of the world's population, according to UN data. It said,

"Drug trafficking, gang wars, political instability, corruption, and poverty contribute to the region's elevated violence. [This] ranking includes cities with a population of more than 300,000 and doesn't count deaths in combat zones or cities with unavailable data, so some dangerous cities might not be represented on the list."

This ranking does not include cities' religious predominance. But in this report, I will include it, because in Latin America religion has always been fundamental for its existence and inseparable from its national identity.

Most cities mentioned in this report are located in predominantly Catholic nations, according to The CIA World Factbook 2014, which reports the following religious predominance:

Honduras: Roman Catholic 97%.

Venezuela: Roman Catholic 96%.

Mexico: Roman Catholic 82.7%.

Brazil: Roman Catholic 73.6%.

Colombia: Roman Catholic 90%.

The United States, whose religious predominance is Protestant, is also represented in this report, with very violent cities. Coincidentally or not, all of these U.S. cities have a predominantly Catholic profile: St. Louis (predominantly Catholic), Detroit (predominantly Catholic), New Orleans (predominantly Catholic) and Baltimore (predominantly Catholic).

Here is the Business Insider report on the 50 most violent cities in the world:

1. San Pedro Sula, Honduras had 171.20 homicides per 100,000 residents.

2. Caracas, Venezuela had 115.98 homicides per 100,000 residents.

3. Acapulco, Mexico had 104.16 homicides per 100,000 residents.

4. Joao Pessoa, Brazil had 79.41 homicides per 100,000 residents.

5. Distrito Central, Honduras had 77.65 homicides per 100,000 residents.

6. Maceio, Brazil had 72.91 homicides per 100,000 residents.

7. Valencia, Venezuela had 71.08 homicides per 100,000 residents.

8. Fortaleza, Brazil had 66.55 homicides per 100,000 residents.

9. Cali, Colombia had 65.25 homicides per 100,000 residents.

10. Sao Luis, Brazil had 64.71 homicides per 100,000 residents.

11. Natal, Brazil had 63.68 homicides per 100,000 residents.

12. Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela had 62.13 homicides per 100,000 residents.

13. San Salvador, El Salvador had 61.21 homicides per 100,000 residents.

14. Cape Town, South Africa had 60 homicides per 100,000 residents.

15. Vitoria, Brazil had 57 homicides per 100,000 residents.

16. Cuiaba, Brazil had 56.46 homicides per 100,000 residents.

17. Salvador (and RMS), Brazil had 54.31 homicides per 100,000 residents.

18. Belem, Brazil had 53.06 homicides per 100,000 residents.

19. St. Louis, Missouri had 49.93 homicides per 100,000 residents.

20. Teresina, Brazil had 49.49 homicides per 100,000 residents.

21. Barquisimeto, Venezuela had 46.46 homicides per 100,000 residents.

22. Detroit, Michigan had 44.87 homicides per 100,000 residents.

23. Goiania, Brazil had 44.82 homicides per 100,000 residents.

24. Culiacan, Mexico had 42.17 homicides per 100,000 residents.

25. Guatemala City, Guatemala had 41.90 homicides per 100,000 residents.

26. Kingston, Jamaica had 40.59 homicides per 100,000 residents.

27. Juarez, Mexico had 39.94 homicides per 100,000 residents.

28. New Orleans, Louisiana had 39.61 homicides per 100,000 residents.

29. Recife, Brazil had 39.05 homicides per 100,000 residents.

30. Campina Grande, Brazil had 37.97 homicides per 100,000 residents.

31. Obregon, Mexico had 37.71 homicides per 100,000 residents.

32. Palmira, Colombia had 37.66 homicides per 100,000 residents.

33. Manaus, Brazil had 37.07 homicides per 100,000 residents.

34. Nuevo Laredo, Mexico had 34.92 homicides per 100,000 residents.

35. Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa had 34.89 homicides per 100,000 residents.

36. Pereira, Colombia had 34.68 homicides per 100,000 residents.

37. Porto Alegre, Brazil had 34.65 homicides per 100,000 residents.

38. Durban, South Africa had 34.48 homicides per 100,000 residents.

39. Aracaju, Brazil had 34.19 homicides per 100,000 residents.

40. Baltimore, Maryland had 33.92 homicides per 100,000 residents.

41. Victoria, Mexico had 33.91 homicides per 100,000 residents.

42. Belo Horizonte, Brazil had 33.39 homicides per 100,000 residents.

43. Chihuahua, Mexico had 33.29 homicides per 100,000 residents.

44. Curitiba, Brazil had 31.48 homicides per 100,000 residents.

45. Tijuana, Mexico had 29.90 homicides per 100,000 residents.

46. Macapa, Brazil had 28.87 homicides per 100,000 residents.

47. Cucuta, Colombia had 28.43 homicides per 100,000 residents.

48. Torreon, Mexico had 27.81 homicides per 100,000 residents.

49. Medellin, Colombia had 26.91 homicides per 100,000 residents.

50. Cuernavaca, Mexico had 25.45 homicides per 100,000 residents.

Because the overwhelming majority of these cities are Catholic, some questions are necessary. Why has not the Catholic religious influence been enough to protect these societies from pervasive social violence? Why has the Catholic Church in Latin America often embraced Liberation Theology to solve political, corruption, and poverty issues?

Christianity, in its New Testament format, was totally dependent on the Holy Spirit. There are God's promises that the transformational moves of Holy Spirit were not limited for the past, but they are also available for today:  

"And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:17-18 ESV)

The charismatic movement is a part of the fulfilment of this promise.

Yet, the Catholic Church in Latin America has frequently been much more open to Liberation Theology promises than to Bible promises about the transformational power of the Holy Spirit. Latin American Catholics have been also very open to syncretism with several forms of African religions like voodoo, Candomble and Santeria. Even in New Orleans, in the U.S., voodoo has been syncretized with the Catholic culture. Brazil, the largest Catholic nation in the world, is rife with Candomble, the Brazilian variety of voodoo, which is black magic. Is it a wonder that Brazil is more violent than nations in war?

Syncretism with African religions (which have been viewed as witchcraft by evangelical churches) is very old and widespread in Latin American Catholicism, especially in Brazil.

Despite these powerful dark inroads in the Latin American Catholic culture, the Catholic Church has been very limitedly open to the charismatic movement and especially to the power of the Holy Spirit against the witchcraft's powers.

In Catholic Latin America, witchcraft and Liberation Theology have helped promote violence, because their nature and spirit are demonic.

The Catholic Church in Latin America should seriously consider why she is less open to the transformational power of the Holy Spirit, why her members are more open to witchcraft and why her members and leaders are more open to Marxism.

With information from Business Insider.

Portuguese version of this article: As 50 cidades mais violentas do mundo sao quase todas catolicas

Source: Last Days Watchman

Recommended Reading:

Catholic Church Paid Millions in Dollars to Facilitate Immigrant Invasion in U.S.

The Pope and the Vatican Should Be Confronted about Traditional Catholic Stances against Israel

Vatican Approves Sainthood Process for Helder Camara, Patron of the Brazilian Catholic Left

Brazil: more violent than nations in war


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Politics; Reference; Religion
KEYWORDS: catholicchurch
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To: miss marmelstein
Your comment should stand for this entire thread.

Your venomous spew apparently stands for the entire Roman Catholic cult.

181 posted on 12/04/2015 1:47:28 PM PST by WVKayaker (On Scale of 1 to 5 Palins, How Likely Is Media Assault on Each GOP Candidate?)
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To: WVKayaker

Have any other RC’s chastised her for her vulgar comments?

That speaks volumes.


182 posted on 12/04/2015 2:09:50 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: miss marmelstein

Your choice.

Remember that when the time comes.


183 posted on 12/04/2015 2:10:20 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: miss marmelstein

For being bored, you sure seem to produce a vehement reaction.

Your actions belie your words.


184 posted on 12/04/2015 2:11:29 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: miss marmelstein
I don't recall meeting you on a political thread.

If you'd look, you'd see.

But I'm not holding your hand to do it.

The means is there to find out yourself and it's very easy to do.

Heck, I don't even meet you, mom, on the wholesome cooking forums. A nice mommy like you must have a tuna casserole, surely?

Never did tuna casserole. Yuck. Now THAT'S boring.

185 posted on 12/04/2015 2:14:09 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: WVKayaker

Since they have not been renounced by other Catholics, we can only conclude that she speaks for them all, especially since some were actually yucking it up over them.

That does more damage to the name of Catholicism than any amount of poorly done studies and correlations.


186 posted on 12/04/2015 2:15:51 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: miss marmelstein

Give it a rest!


187 posted on 12/04/2015 2:16:37 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to to God!)
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To: metmom

” ... we can only conclude that she speaks for them all.” Um, no, not even. Think about it. Would you like to be ‘assumed’ for the Jack Chick stuff that hit FR, or the weird bowing to some televangelist/prosperity gospel charlatan? ... Neither would I.


188 posted on 12/04/2015 2:46:35 PM PST by MHGinTN (Is it really all relative, Mister Einstein?)
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To: MHGinTN

Except that by their silence in not condemning such vulgarity, they are consenting to it.

If we remained silent in the face of that kind of thing coming from someone who we claimed affiliation with, I would not blame anyone for presuming that we were by default consenting to it.

That’s the difference.


189 posted on 12/04/2015 6:46:48 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom

Sorry for late reply....but your are right about Columbia...most S.America has good land for development and lots of valuable minerals. The minerals have been exposed and brought close to the surface because of all the volcanoes that have erupted since way back in history and today. Many of the countries touching the ocean also have good ports and benefit from industries related to fishing and recreation.

But in all countries, most of the wealth benefits go to the wealthy few and the cartels. Leaving very little for the rest of the population.

My first entry on this post stated, that few Catholic countries even come close to realizing the economic potential and providing a good life(which is within their reach) to society as a whole. Even look at Russia, whose religion is eastern orthodox.

I think the answer has to do with how the Catholic church always allies and is intertwined with the aristocracy and nobles due to their wealth. And the church looksd the other way as the citizenry are abused and allowed to live in poverty.


190 posted on 12/07/2015 7:18:18 AM PST by fingers_crossed
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To: juliosevero

Not enough data to conclude much of anything. It does seem like a lot of Spanish speaking places though. I’m wondering about the sizes of the cities. There seems to be a size relationship to murder rates.


191 posted on 12/07/2015 7:22:41 AM PST by DungeonMaster (Democrats have covens, not conventions.)
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To: Mrs. Don-o; juliosevero; fwdude; CaptainK; Bryanw92; redleghunter; Springfield Reformer; ...
A few points showing a certant tendentiousness in this report jumped out right away: "St. Louis (predominantly Catholic)", that is, 16% Catholic "Detroit (predominantly Catholic)", that is, 17.3% Catholic

I just saw this article today, and this is a valid objection, but i find St. Louis being 20% Cath, while "only 43.31% of the people in Detroit, Michigan are religious, meaning they affiliate with a religion."

Yet that seems to be a restricted definition of religion, if it excludes as religious those who do not ID with one of the denominational faiths they list (Baptist, Catholic, etc.).

In addition, City-data.com shows that Caths in St. Louis city County decreased 31% btwn 2000 and 2010 to only 15.4% while during the same period "Nones" increased 80%! Evang. suffered a 3% loss during the same period.

Pew Research explains:

Religious “nones” – a shorthand we use to refer to people who self-identify as atheists or agnostics, as well as those who say their religion is “nothing in particular” – now make up roughly 23% of the U.S. adult population. - http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/13/a-closer-look-at-americas-rapidly-growing-religious-nones/

Yet this does not translate into all or even a majority of such being atheists or agnostics any more than being an Independent means one is not political, as many today do not want to ID with any formal category.

Likewise Detroit shows 16% Cath. in 2010 with Nones being 60% (and evangelicals at 10%). Thus a case might be made for the % of Nones corresponding to the % of murders, yet which i do not think would stand.

An argument using false evidence impugns the credibility of the source, ,even if the whole of the contention is right. Here, i would presume it is the % of black culture that most corresponds to murders in the US, with money also being a factor. Meanwhile. here are extensive poll findings as regards RC vs. evang and here is a table of comparisons of US cities based on a number of aspects.

I had posted an article "Religion in Latin America " from Pew Research findings, which is very revealing and relevant to what this article contends.

Across the region, Protestants are more likely than Catholics to say that abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances and that same-sex couples should not be allowed to legally wed. Protestants also are consistently more likely than Catholics to view drinking alcohol, divorce, sex outside of marriage and using artificial means of birth control as immoral. And Protestants are more inclined than Catholics to say that wives should always obey their husbands.

Catholics who attend Mass weekly generally express lower levels of support for allowing same-sex marriage than do Catholics who attend Mass less often.

Nevertheless, Protestants tend to be more socially conservative than Catholics even when levels of religious observance are taken into account.

(For more details, see below [http://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/chapter-5-social-attitudes/#catholics-and-protestants-religious-commitment-and-moral-views].)

Although the Catholic Church teaches that marriage is an “indissoluble union” between a man and a woman, Protestants across Latin America are more solidly opposed to divorce than Catholics are.

The gap between the views of Protestants and Catholics is especially wide in Venezuela, where half of Protestants (52%) say divorce is morally wrong, compared with 22% of Catholics.

Protestants also are far more likely than Catholics to say that divorce is immoral in Peru (67% vs. 39%) and Ecuador (64% vs. 37%).

Latin Americans are divided on the morality of sex outside marriage. In eight of the countries surveyed, majorities of adults say that sex between people who are not married to one another is morally wrong. But in other countries, roughly half or fewer object to sex outside marriage. Moral objections to sex outside marriage are highest in Guatemala (80%) and El Salvador (73%) and lowest in Uruguay (19%), Chile (23%) and Argentina (23%).

Generally, Protestants are more likely to oppose sex outside marriage than are Catholics. In 15 countries plus Puerto Rico, majorities of Protestants say that sex between people who are not married to each other is morally wrong. Among Catholics, half or fewer share this view in most countries surveyed.

As on other topics related to morality, differences between Protestants and Catholics are especially pronounced in Venezuela, where 77% of Protestants and 36% of Catholics say that sex outside marriage is morally wrong. Gaps of 30 percentage points or more between Protestants and Catholics also are seen in Colombia, Chile, Brazil and Panama.

In most countries, fewer than a third of adults – including just 10% of Argentinians, 8% of Chileans and 5% of Uruguayans – say that using contraceptives is morally wron

Objections to artificial means of birth control are highest in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Panama,

In many countries surveyed, significantly higher shares of Protestants than Catholics say that using contraceptives is morally wrong.

In Chile, for example, roughly a quarter of Protestants (23%) say using contraceptives is morally wrong, compared with just 5% of Catholics. And in Peru, about four-in-ten Protestants (39%) object to artificial means of birth control, compared with 23% of Catholics.

Here is a post with many stats on growth and demographics,

And here are

The Most and Least Bible-Minded Cities in America ...

The US cities with the most religious venues per capita aren ...

The top ranking cities, where at least half of the population qualifies as Bible-minded, are all Southern cities. This includes the media markets for Knoxville, TN (52% of the population are Bible-minded), Shreveport, LA (52%), Chattanooga, TN (52%), Birmingham, AL (50%), and Jackson, MS (50%). Other markets in the top 10 include Springfield, MO (49%), Charlotte, NC (48%), Lynchburg, VA (48%), Huntsville-Decatur, AL (48%), and Charleston, WV (47%).

The least Bible-oriented markets include a mix of regions, but tend to be from the New England area. Easily the lowest Bible-minded scores came from Providence, RI (9%) and Albany, NY (10%). To put this in perspective, the most Bible-minded markets are five times more likely to have residents who qualify as Bible-minded than is true in these two Northeastern cities. - See where your city ranks. See all 96 cities here. - http://cities.barna.org/americas-most-and-least-bible-minded-cities-2/

192 posted on 12/08/2015 9:52:28 AM PST by daniel1212 ( Turn to the Lord Jesus as a damned and destitute sinner+ trust Him to save you, then follow Him!)
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To: daniel1212
Thank you, daniel1212, for your relevant and well-considered figures. "Religion" is always a dicey statistical category, because of the strikingly different ways to tabulate religious category: #of baptisms, #of "self-identified as," #of pew=sitters, #of people on the church's official rolls, #who attend weekly, plus the mixing and matching of so-called denominations: is the mixed-bag of "non-Catholic Christians" the same as Protestants? or Evangelicals? Mmmm, because the Orthodox are statistically insignificant, or...? Did they count Pentecostals separately? How about Mormons? How about SDA? Etc. etc.

Sometimes it makes a kind of weird sense to look at "intensity" and "frequency" across faiths. Morally-socially, I probably have more in common with red-hot Chabad Jews than I do with triflin' Obama-bumper-sticker C&E Catholics.

193 posted on 12/08/2015 10:18:36 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o (Nobody is healthier dead.)
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To: juliosevero

Interesting no one deals with the religion of those who perpetrate the crimes, instead of the general population.


194 posted on 12/08/2015 10:21:32 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Mrs. Don-o
Thank you, daniel1212, for your relevant and well-considered figures.

Thanks for the thanks, though they were a little late.

"Religion" is always a dicey statistical category, because of the strikingly different ways to tabulate religious category: #of baptisms, #of "self-identified as..,"

Most poll researchers use the latter from what i have read, except that they sometimes class "evangelicals" based upon denom affiliation or affirmation of being "born again" or the like.

is the mixed-bag of "non-Catholic Christians" the same as Protestants? or Evangelicals?

That would likely be those who are nondenominational.

because the Orthodox are statistically insignificant

I think usually they are included under Catholic, and many of them claim that term describes them anyway.

Did they count Pentecostals separately? How about Mormons? How about SDA? Etc. etc.

Yes, at least in terms of major surveys such as Pew and sources i usually see, but that depends upon what the survey is about. And Pentecostal denoms may also count as evang.

Morally-socially, I probably have more in common with red-hot Chabad Jews than I do with triflin' Obama-bumper-sticker C&E Catholics.

We would elect Pharisees based on basic moral views. Cruz control is the best as far as i see now.

195 posted on 12/08/2015 4:21:06 PM PST by daniel1212 ( Turn to the Lord Jesus as a damned and destitute sinner+ trust Him to save you, then follow Him!)
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To: juliosevero
Interesting that San Pedro, Honduras is rated #1 in the most dangerous cities.

My sister is married to a doctor who is from San Pedro (naturalized citizen and here in the US since 1960) and almost all of his surviving family are now living here in the U.S.

One of his nieces is currently on vacation to Roatan which is in the Bay Islands and she won't step foot in San Pedro due to the violence from the drug cartels. Streets are cordoned off, personal security are protecting the houses of the wealthy. According to her, it's become a virtual war zone.............

196 posted on 12/08/2015 4:33:53 PM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: daniel1212
Hmm. I don't see how I was "a little late", since you posted on 12/8/2015, 12:52:28 PM and I replied as soon as I saw your post, on 12/8/2015, 1:18:36 PM -- but I do try to 'preciate'ja as quick as I can (as we say here in Upper East Tennessee.)

As far as electing Pharisees, based on moral views: yes, yes, obviously!

197 posted on 12/08/2015 6:17:01 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o (Semper Fi.)
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To: Mrs. Don-o
Hmm. I don't see how I was "a little late",

I meant relative to the date the article was posted.

198 posted on 12/08/2015 7:48:47 PM PST by daniel1212 ( Turn to the Lord Jesus as a damned and destitute sinner+ trust Him to save you, then follow Him!)
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To: daniel1212
I also commented on 12/2, the same day the article was posted.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3367350/posts?page=42#42

199 posted on 12/09/2015 8:21:26 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o (Your faithful FReeper friend.)
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To: Mark17

hi mark


200 posted on 01/15/2016 6:52:02 AM PST by 1997xlt
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