Banned

UK - The Vicar at the All Saints Church Hall in Totley, Yorkshire, had banned the Tai Chi class started by the Sheffield Council as part of its health promotion program while also asking the local residents' association for financial assistance to help refurbish the church hall on the grounds that it is open to everyone.

When instituting the ban, Vicar Rhodes stated, "Within the the church we see Tai Chi as being an aspect of the Taoist religion. We want to promote a whole life spirituality which centers on following Jesus and we feel that the two things clash." The class had around 20 regulars comprised of elderly women.

"I don't know if the vicar thinks we are learning kung fu or martial arts and are training to kill people but we're just trying to keep healthy as we get older - what's anti-Christian about that?" said 74-year-old Pat Parkin. "We are not anti-Christs, we're just a group of mainly older women trying to keep fit and healthy. We are not learning anything about any Eastern religion or philosophy."

Voodoo aid

Haiti - Although the bulk of religious relief aid in Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake has been by Catholic and Protestant groups, well-known musician Theodore "Lolo" Beaubrun, feels voodoo should play an important role in the country's recovery. "We have seen death. But the spirits entered the minds of people to advise and help them heal. They speak to us. It's like therapy," he says.

Voodoo blends aspects of West African animistic beliefs and practices with Christianity. Others feel an absence of voodoo's presence in the aftermath is due to prejudice against its followers.

"Some Christian communities do not want to give food to voodoo followers. As soon as they see people wearing peasant clothes or voodoo handkerchiefs, they put them aside and deny them food," Beaubrun reveals.

Father Reginald Jean-Marie of Notre-Dame in Little Haiti insists, "Any system of belief that people cling to especially in a time of crisis can be of help to them." The priest also said that anyone blaming voodoo for the country's crises is "theological nonsense".

Say Om

UK - A London cardiologist is continuing a yoga program which utilizes meditation and chanting to combat a range of medical problems. One participant, a 54-year-old woman on a variety of prescriptions and with a genetic predisposition to high blood pressure along with a thickening of her heart wall, claims the doctor's program has left her medication-free and that her heart has repaired itself. In the program, she had 12 weekly two-hour sessions of intense yoga meditation, learning the methods of pranayam yoga and its chanting element.

"With meditation, the benefits are maintained for long periods afterwards, and increasingly so the more you meditate," says the London cardiologist, Dr. Richard Carroll. A 9-year study done by the American Heart Association found that coronary heart patients had a 50% lower rate of heart attack, stroke and death when they practiced meditation and chanting when compared to non-meditating patients.

A study done by Georgetown University found students lowered their blood pressure after only 3 months of regular chanting.

Live right

Ghana - Calling upon the government of Ghana to redouble efforts to combat armed robbery and fraud, stem corruption and fight the lackadaisical attitude to work, Reverend Samuel Owiredu, the Kpassa District Pastor of the Apostolic Church of Ghana, called for harmony between the current government and its opposition. "If leaders succeed, most of the people succeed," the pastor exhorted in a sermon at a non-denominational Church in Kpassa, asking for prayers for the nation's leaders, all part of the conclusion of the national week of fasting and prayers.

He also charged the nation's youth to lead responsible lifestyles to reflect the image of God in them. Paul Levin Gyato, Nkwanta North District Chief Executive, entreated Ghanaians to practice humility, modesty and honesty, saying these are the virtues of good leadership.

Sins forgiven

Tbilisi , Georgia - Petty criminals in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia may have the opportunity to serve shorter sentences by spending time in a monastery. An estimated 80% of the Georgian population are Orthodox Christians and the church plays an influential role in the country's political structure.

Offering a cassock and allowing certain criminals the chance to serve out their sentence as monks would prove to be a beneficial form of rehabilitation while easing the severe overcrowding in the country's prison system.

Officials from the prisons ministry and the Church said they would work together to select appropriate candidates who would respond best to the unique program of reform. A recent report by a penal reform panel showed the incarceration rate in Georgia had risen some 300% since 2004 and the system was far beyond capacity.

Brief and to the point

Rome - Last December, the Archdiocese in Bombay, India, told its priests to keep their homilies (sermons) short and to the point. Auxiliary Bishop Bosco Penha, president of the Commission for Word and Worship in Bombay archdiocese said, “Some priests are still preaching for 20 minutes or more, which is strongly discouraged."

Now the Vatican has weighed in on the subject advising all priests to keep their homilies to 8 minutes or less. "The homily in general should not go over eight minutes – the average amount of time for a listener to concentrate," says Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops.

Father Andrew Headon, vice-rector of the Venerable English College in Rome agrees. "There is a saying among clergy," he said. "If you haven't struck oil in seven minutes, stop boring." Headon added, "A sermon should not be a lecture, nor is it academic. You need to give spiritual food for thought that will stay with someone for a week."

When women ruled

New York City, USA - 7,000 years ago (5000 B.C.) - before the use of writing and long before the fist cities of Mesopotamia and Egypt were built - the Danube Valley was a seat of European civilization boasting settlements of 10,000 or more people.

An exhibit in New York City, "The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000-3000 BC", is showcasing archaeological finds from the areas of the richest heritage - Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova, and Romania.

Included in the exhibition are anthropomorphic figurines which are thought to have been used for religious and ritualistic ceremonies, most of which represent the female form and are thought to possibly represent the mother goddess. Scholars believe the culture of that period was probably ruled by women or was matriarchal in structure. Fertility was an important aspect of ancient civilizations.

The exhibit is at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. through April 25th, 2010 and admission is free.