13 Jul 2015

The Kanye based assistant parish priest, Father Denis Mantu has said churches should take care of both the physical and spiritual person.

Speaking in an interview during the Thapelong Mission Catholic Church wellness day in Kanye over the weekend, Father Denis said it was important for the church to balance the physical person with the spiritual.

He said the spiritual person functioned optimally with an enhanced physical self and urged the churches to focus on both.

Father Denis noted that they started with a walk around the village in the morning to sensitise people about wellness and show them that the church was equally concerned about their wellbeing.

He urged Batswana to screen for diseases in time, adding that early detections were curable and also encouraged them to adopt healthy lifestyles like physical exercise and eating balanced food.

For his part, the parish priest Father Thomas Puthukkattu stated that the Roman Catholic Church the world over, has always had the spiritual and charity dimensions in its dealings, hence the activity.

Likewise, he stressed that it was important for churches to concentrate on both the physical and the spiritual person and challenged churches to adopt a holistic approach.

He said the event was the first of its kind to be held by the church adding they would organise another one next year in collaboration with other charity organisations.

A nurse, Ms Virginia Magwati who did eye testing on the day, urged people to come for eye screening even when they did not feel sick to prevent avoidable blindness.

Meanwhile, out of the 40 people who screened for health conditions like hypertension and sugar diabetes 10 were referred for urgent attention by the doctor. The day was held under the theme: My health my priority through Christ. ENDS