Cuernavaca, Mexico, Apr 1, 2019 / 23:00 pm
The Bishop of Cuernavaca, Mexico has encouraged Catholics to intensify their prayers for peace, after the publication of a report that 15 Mexican cities figure among the most violent in the world.
Mexico's Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice prepares each year a list of the 50 most violent cities in the world, on the basis of the number of homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. The March 12 report said that during 2018 the most dangerous global cities were Tijuana and Acapulco.
Victoria, Juárez and Irapuato hold fourth, fifth and sixth place. Further down the list are Cancún, Culiacán, Uruapan, Obregón, Coatzacoalcos, Celaya, Ensenada, Tepic, Reynosa and Chihuahua.
Caracas, Venezuela, holds third place. Only eight cities are not in Latin America, among them are St. Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, and New Orleans, ranking 15th, 23rd, 46th and 50th respectively.
In a video message, Bishop Ramón Castro Castro said the fact that Mexican cities head the list "makes evident the situation of violence and lack of safety that Mexico is going through."