 Internet users will be able to choose their favourite nun from photographs |
An Italian priest says he is organising the world's first beauty pageant for nuns to erase a stereotype of them as being old and dour.
Antonio Rungi says The Miss Sister Italy online contest will start on his blog in September.
"Nuns are above all women and beauty is a gift from God," he told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.
He is asking nuns to send their photos to him, saying that internet users will then choose the winner.
Father Rungi stressed that nuns were not being invited to parade in bathing suits, saying it will be up to them whether they pose with the traditional veil or with their heads uncovered.
"This contest will be a way to show there isn't just the beauty we see on television but also a more discreet charm," the priest, who lives near the southern city of Naples, told the Corriere della Sera.
"You really think all nuns are old, stunted and sad? This isn't the case anymore," he said, pointing out that many young nuns had arrived to Italy from around the world.
He added that the idea of staging such a contest had been suggested by nuns themselves.
After seeing the Catholic sisters in Poland, I agree it is very much time to change the image. They are amazing women. The first time I went to Poland one of the experienced volunteers told me,"Just wait until you see the nuns in tennis shoes." Particularly in Zakopane one sees nuns living like people. Yes, they wear a habit, but they are mountain climbing, enjoying ice cream on Krupowki Street, or waltzing up the street with their families, just like everyone else.
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