Satan affects individuals. ‘Cities’, as ensouled or sentient entities, do not exist- they are just places where individuals live. Therefore a ‘city’ cannot be possessed.
However, there is certainly a lot of evil in some cities.
Such a belief I would agree has the potential of becoming heretical in that it lends itself to animism. To quote the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia article on animism
newadvent.org/cathen/01526a.htm “Animism is … a theory proposed in recent years to account for the origin and development of religion. As such it is known as the Soul or Ghost-theory of religion.” The key phrase here is “origin and development of religion”.
The Wikipedia article
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism provides much needed supplementary information: “Animism … is the religious belief that natural phenomena, including animals, plants, and often even inanimate objects, possess a spiritual essence. Specifically, animism is used in the anthropology of religion as a term for the religion of indigenous tribal peoples, especially prior to the development of civilization and organized religion.”
The proponents of animism, however, are not without ammunition. In my opinion, one must not always preach to the choir. We are called to faith for a reason. Our ways are not the ways of an unbeliever. From the outside looking in, it won’t make complete sense. The gulf between the larger community and the faithful has become wide through the diligent efforts of those who do not believe. Some hope to once again snare Christians and gather us into ghettos as the Jews in World War II once were. As such it may be wise to keep an eye out.
What evidence is there to support the idea that a city is a living organism? Some would say that if it is living it is necessarily imbued with a soul. This sort of thing is not new to the Church. Interestingly enough, when the factors that determine the heart rate of an animal is taken into consideration and applied to a large metropolitan community one uncovers something interesting. It turns out that the expected heart rate is two beats per day, morning rush hour, evening rush hour. Like one breath per day, in and out.
Such facts could prompt someone to deny the facts. How does one legitimately deny a fact? or to embrace it. If embraced in the absence of a religious education, you are naturally vulnerable. How can you combat Satan never having known God?
It seems plausible to me that this animate relationship, a potentially false animation, that cities have is something that Satan would exploit. True enough to be useful to the devil.
