NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, I was wondering what nation is the most devout Catholic nation in the world?

In the past there would have been lots of contenders - infact, bar France, every nation which had a Catholic majoirty populace was very devout. That's changed now and, I was wondering, which country do you think is the most Catholic nation in the world?

I personally would say Malta. I've heard that this small nation all go to Mass every Sunday - that's quite something.

The Vatican.

Mexico they have riots for the pope.

The Vatican.

Well...okay smartass. We're not including the Vatican.

Mexico they have riots for the pope.

Really? I've heard that Mexico has a large Protestant population and that no one attends Mass in Mexico anymore.

Well...okay smartass. We're not including the Vatican.

Come on. You HAD to have seen that one coming.

I'd agree with Malta then. Or San Marino. It's easy for tiny, tiny countries like those to be more Catholic than larger nations that are obviously going to have alot more diversity.

Come on. You HAD to have seen that one coming.

I'd agree with Malta then. Or San Marino. It's easy for tiny, tiny countries like those to be more Catholic than larger nations that are obviously going to have alot more diversity.

San Marino? Don't know much about that one....I thought that it would be just like other European countries and have lost its religion by now.

I think Poland is the most outwardly religious country in Europe, which, if true, means Poland is the most devoutly Catholic country in Europe.

I'm not sure about the whole world.

Really? I've heard that Mexico has a large Protestant population and that no one attends Mass in Mexico anymore.
You're smoking weed Mexico is almost completely Catholic, look it up! I live in a very hispanic neighborhood, everybody goes to church all the time including weekdays it seems. I am always being given free bibles and literature.

You're smoking weed Mexico is almost completely Catholic, look it up! I live in a very hispanic neighborhood, everybody goes to church all the time including weekdays it seems. I am always being given free bibles and literature.

Well, I don't live in that hemisphere so.......perhaps I'm getting it confused with Brazil?!

San Marino? Don't know much about that one....I thought that it would be just like other European countries and have lost its religion by now.

Well the CIA factbook entry for San Marino (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sm.html#People) lists the religion of San Marino as Roman Catholic, although it does not give a percentage. I imagine it's probably 100% Catholic, however, though I could be wrong.

I'm not sure about the whole world.

Have a guess!

You're smoking weed Mexico is almost completely Catholic, look it up! I live in a very hispanic neighborhood, everybody goes to church all the time including weekdays it seems. I am always being given free bibles and literature.

You know that Hispanic does not necessarily mean Mexican, right?

Well the CIA factbook entry for San Marino (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sm.html#People) lists the religion of San Marino as Roman Catholic, although it does not give a percentage. I imagine it's probably 100% Catholic, however, though I could be wrong.

But that doesn't mean they believe or got to Mass etc.

You know that Hispanic does not necessarily mean Mexican, right?

yes...that's true also!

Well, I don't live in that hemisphere so.......perhaps I'm getting it confused with Brazil?!
Probably. Brazil is filled with homosexuals and transvestites who have the world's greatest party every year called Carnival which costs billions of dollars where they all have massive orgies. They are technically catholic but in name only.

In the past there would have been lots of contenders - infact, bar France, every nation which had a Catholic majoirty populace was very devout. That's changed now and, I was wondering, which country do you think is the most Catholic nation in the world?
from what i hear, the french population is still rather devout...

the fact that they separate the politics and religion does not mean that they don't still attend church.

I still say the Vatican. It is an independent nation.

Have a guess!
I'm not sure. I'll go with a country on a continent no one's mentioned yet, The Philippenes.

I'd have to say somewhere in sub-Sahara Africa. They are most ripe for the Gospel, and Catholic missionaries are very well established there. But for a specific nation, I'd have to say Portugal. Whether it is true piety or not, I can't say, but the government leans on priests to spread information, as more Portugese trust them than the government.

from what i hear, the french population is still rather devout...

the fact that they separate the politics and religion does not mean that they don't still attend church.
However, only one in ten Europeans still regularly attend church. The numbers are far worse in France.

The Phillipines. They crusify themselves each year at easter.

Perhaps Philipines does beat mexico those crucifixions are real. While the Phillipines may have the most uber devout members I still think Mexico overall is the most catholic. Here is a article about the pope's trip there in 1999.


Pope wraps up Mexico trip, declaring 'I feel Mexican!'
More than 100,000 followers of Pope John Paul II surround him during Monday's event

MEXICO CITY (CNN) -- Before an overjoyed crowd of more than 100,000 followers Monday night, Pope John Paul II called on Christians across Latin America to reaffirm their faith to make the world at the start of the new millennium a safer and more peaceful one.

A packed soccer stadium in Mexico City erupted into song and applause as the pope entered and circled the track in his "popemobile." Hundreds of doves were released into the air.

"Fathers and grandparents here present -- it is incumbent upon you to transmit to the new generations a deep-seated conviction of faith, Christian practices and healthy moral customs," the pope said, addressing the crowd from a red-carpeted platform on the field.

"You, as children of the church, must work to ensure that the coming 'global society' will not be spiritually indigent or inherit the errors of the century which ends," he said.

The pope brought the stadium to a deafening roar when, toward the end of his speech, he smiled and declared, "Today, I feel Mexican!"

John Paul won the hearts of Mexicans in his four trips to Mexico as pope, warmly embracing their culture and their beloved, unofficial patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Before the pope spoke, actors performed dramatizations of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe before the peasant Juan Diego in 1531, an event which led to the conversion of millions of Indians to Catholicism.

The wild stadium celebration was broadcast to cheering crowds in cities across the Americas, from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Each city sent live messages from clergy and worshippers, shown to the pope on giant television screens.

Followers 'overwhelmed with emotion'

Tens of thousands of Mexicans lined boulevards leading to Mexico City's Azteca Stadium to see the pope pass by on his way to the event, his last public appearance of his four-day visit to Mexico.

Admirers showered the popemobile with confetti and flowers. Others released balloons.

"I am completely overwhelmed with emotion," said church worker Lucero Del Prado.

Designer Alejandra Creel marveled at the raucous stadium crowd as it chanted, "John Paul, brother now you are a Mexican!" and "John Paul II, the world loves you."

"This shows that the masses can really accomplish something positive," Creel said. "Young and old are uniting for the same causes: love and brotherhood."

Reviewing the wars and crises of the past century, John Paul said there was cause for hope in the future, despite the past.

"This century has seen two world wars, the horror of concentration camps, persecutions and massacres, but it has also seen progress giving hope for the future, like the birth of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," he said.

The frail 78-year-old pontiff has used his Mexican visit to outline church strategy throughout the Americas for the start of the new millennium.

He signed a declaration containing that strategy. It condemned the evils of exploitative capitalism, drug trafficking, corruption, and "the culture of death" that kills through abortion, euthanasia and capital punishment.

He also urged Catholics to more vigorously defend their faith against Protestant sects that have made inroads in Latin America.

Part of the millennium strategy involves bringing civic leaders back into contact with the church. In recent years, the pope said, "pastoral care for the leading sectors of society has been neglected and many people have thus been estranged from the church," leading to policies "alien to Gospel."

well it depends if you mean the whole nation or members of that nation, Catholicism usually does its best when its being beaten down

for whole nations I agree that a small devout one like Ireland, Malta or Andorra probobly takes it

as for faith verging on the edge of fanaticism probobly a country like mexico, the Philipens or numerous places in Africa where the national govenrment has a long (sometimes on going) tradition of Church suppression

Italy you fools. They are very Catholic especially Rome.

I didn't know some people from the Philippenes crucified themselves. I thought this practice took place in one of the Central American countries... perhaps Guatemala, I'm not totally sure though.

However, only one in ten Europeans still regularly attend church. The numbers are far worse in France. True. And interestingly in France, contrary to the experience of other nations in Europe, it's the women who are leaving in droves. Morning Mass in most French metropolitan churches is going to be full of middle aged men.

I think I'd have to say Brazil, Carnivale or not. Phillipines is a good choice, but there are still sizeable Proddo and Moslem minorities kicking up enough fuss for it to be difficult to describe the country as a whole as being devoutly Catholic. There are far more militant Moslems there than homos and transvestites in Brazil! The mass devotion on display in Brazil - well, in any SA country, and Brazil's the biggest - really is something amazing.

Problem, of course, with saying sub-Saharan Africa is the considerable population of Anglicans about.

You're smoking weed Mexico is almost completely Catholic, look it up! I live in a very hispanic neighborhood, everybody goes to church all the time including weekdays it seems. I am always being given free bibles and literature.

Um, Hispanic neighborhood in the US does not equal Mexico.

Here is something interesting about church attendance rates... if we go by the standard of church atendance, Ireland is the most religious of all the Catholic nations. Nigeria has higher attendance rates but Nigeria also has higher numbers of non-Catholic churches such as Anglicans and other Protestants.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_rate.htm

REALLY crucify themselves? I mean, the whole thing with scourging, the nails - do they actually die? Is it like the Passion of the Christ (I'm guessing it is not)?

Probably Italy, though I am ignorant of religious world statistics.

Sob should be Ireland sob Ireland has lost its soul!

REALLY crucify themselves? I mean, the whole thing with scourging, the nails
Yes. Every year. Some did it more then once.
- do they actually die?
Not often.

I think Poland is the most outwardly religious country in Europe, which, if true, means Poland is the most devoutly Catholic country in Europe.

I'm not sure about the whole world.
I agree with you Catholic Poland is pretty strong
Got the Pope um he won the cold war incouraged Welscalas*and Solidarity
but clever move Sdaeriji that was a real in swinger took middle stump and all :D

True. And interestingly in France, contrary to the experience of other nations in Europe, it's the women who are leaving in droves. Morning Mass in most French metropolitan churches is going to be full of middle aged men.

I blame it on the strictness of the church. It works fine in the third world, and in the US, the Catholic Church is all but independent from the Vatican. It's been the ones in Europe that feel that they are living five-hundred years ago: that they are Mr. Bigstuff. I think that turns Europeans off. Then again, that doesn't apply to all Protestant denominations, yet they are also shrinking. I wonder if there are denominations in Western Europe that are growing.

I wonder if there are denominations in Western Europe that are growing.
Wiccan and Pagan.

Oh, and I think the Jedi church is also gaining members.

I'm not sure. I'll go with a country on a continent no one's mentioned yet, The Philippenes.

Yes, I've seen pictures of what they do at Easter - that is extremely devout.

Whichever one it is, it's probably in central or south america.

Whichever one it is, it's probably in central or south america.

Are any Latin American countries actually believers anymore or just Catholic by birth?!

Are any Latin American countries actually believers anymore or just Catholic by birth?!

Well, countries aren't born. But i'd assume some of the people in those countries are devout by choice.

Well, countries aren't born. But i'd assume some of the people in those countries are devout by choice.

Yeah, but does that 'some' equal more than a non-latin american catholic country?

Oh, and I think the Jedi church is also gaining members.
Speaking of which Jedi was the third largest? religeon in New Zealand but the powers that be wouldnt allow it damn democracy you make a fool of it and it changes the rules
Democracy :mp5: