Catholic schools under the patronage of the Diocese of Water-ford and Lismore have been told by their bishop not to do yoga in the classroom because it is not Christian. In a letter to schools sent on 10th October, Bishop Phonsie Cullinan said yoga was not suitable for a parish school setting, “especially not during religious education time.”

Explaining to school staff that he had been asked by several people to speak about yoga and mindfulness, the bishop indicated that schools need to incorporate Christian mindfulness which he said was “not mindlessness but is meditation based on Christ.”

Elsewhere in his letter, Dr Cullinan reminded staff that October is the “month of the Rosary” and he encouraged principals and teachers to pray the Rosary and help children to spend time with Jesus in adoration or in quiet meditation in the classroom.

The Bishop also referred to a homily given by Pope Francis in 2015 in which he said: “Practices like yoga are not capable of opening our hearts up to God.” The Pope continued: “You can take a million courses in spirituality, a million courses in yoga, Zen and all these things but all of this will never be able to give you freedom.”

The first sub-two-hour marathon is an astonishing individual achievement, but it is also a lesson in leadership, as a distinguished African theologian explains. On 12 October, on a misty morning in a Vienna park, Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge completed a marathon in 1 hr 59 min 40.2 sec. His feat captivated the imagination of people around the world, far beyond the sporting community.   I take away from his astonishing achievement.‘You cannot train alone and expect to run a fast time. There is a formula: 100% of me is nothing compared to 1% of the whole team. And that’s teamwork. That’s what I value.’

In early September, violent riots targeting several stores owned by foreigners broke out across South Africa, in Johannesburg, Pretoria and surrounding areas. At least 10 people, including two foreigners, were reportedly killed in days of violence that erupted after armed mobs razed and vandalized several businesses and stores owned by immigrants. South African police in a Sept. 3 statement said they had arrested 189 people.

This is not the first time that foreigners have been targeted in South Africa. Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Somalis and Kenyans, among others, have all been victims of anti-foreigner violence. The 2008 attacks on foreigners and their investments in South Africa obviously marked the dawn of xenophobic attacks against foreigners living in South Africa.