An Italian priest and theologian said Sunday he is organizing an online beauty pageant for nuns to give them more "visibility" within the Catholic Church and to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour. He also noted he hoped the beauty paegent would send a message that old and dour nuns were no longer the way of the future Catholic Church.
The "Miss Sister 2008" contest will start in September on a blog run by the Rev. Antonio Rungi and will give nuns from around the world a chance to showcase their work and their image - something normally reserved for fetish sites. While the blog is NOT currently up and running, Rungi expects it to be a great hit among younger and older priests alike and will shift focus away from the ongoing perception that priests only like boys.
"Nuns are a bit excluded, they are a bit marginalized in ecclesiastical life," said Rungi after Italian media carried reports of the idea. "This will be an occasion to make their contribution more visible. It will also make less visible the whole priests / boys / NAMBLA problem the church faces."
Rungi, a theologian and schoolteacher from the Naples area, said that visitors to his site will have a month to "vote for the nun they consider a model."
"The contestants must be aged between 18 and 40, and can be either full members of an order or novices. Nubile, if you will. I expect many who apply will be young, attractive — and non-Italian."
Nuns will fill out a profile including information about their life and vocation as well as a photograph. It will be up to them to choose whether to pose with the traditional veil or with their heads uncovered. However, the profile will include areas of general interest such as what she seeks in a priest and her Most Romantic Eucharist.
Rungi said the idea was first suggested to him by nuns with whom he regularly prays and works. He hopes there will be dozens of submissions once the Web site is started.
Rungi added that the nuns also thought they could raise a lot of money for the church with an annual Swimsuit Bible, in Latin, and a Nun of the Month.
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