Why?

Sometimes you have to wonder what people are thinking.
Yesterday, Father Antonio Rungi of the Italian diocese of Modragone announced that he would hold a beauty pageant for nuns next month. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2615888/Beauty-pageant-for-Italian-nuns.html) Father Rungi expects about 1,000 nuns to compete for the title of “Miss Sister Italy” in a pageant that will be broadcast online. Why is he doing this? "’Nuns are above all women and beauty is a gift from God. . . . You really think all nuns are old, stunted and sad? This isn't the case any more, thanks to the arrival in our country of young and vital nuns,’ notably from Africa and Latin America , he added.” Sisters who would like to participate must answer profile forms and submit a photo. It is their option as to whether they’d like to compete wearing their habit or not.
One has to wonder whether Father Rungi has been over-indulging in the celebratory wine. Of what value could this spectacle possibly serve? The vanity of a beauty pageant is contrary to the selfless vows taken by nuns when they join a religious order. The self-sacrifice required to live this life is why many orders insist that their sisters wear the traditional habit. A habit submerges the ego and teaches an initiate that she is simply one member of a larger group whose single role is to serve Christ . . . even at the expense of her own desires.

What’s next? A swimsuit competition?


Donald Tremblay