An Italian priest is organizing an online beauty pageant for Catholic nuns “to give them more visibility within the Catholic Church and to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour.”
Are you kidding me? A reader of my blog sent me a link about this story. At first I thought the beauty content was a joke, but when I started reading the article and then another person sent me the same story from MSNBC (so it must be true 
), I was astounded.
Here’s a snippet about the “Miss Sister 2008″ contest:
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.
“Nuns are a bit excluded, they are a bit marginalized in ecclesiastical life,” Rungi told The Associated Press after Italian media carried reports of the idea. “This will be an occasion to make their contribution more visible.”
According to the article, people who visit Rungi’s blog can “vote for the nun they consider a model.” The rest of the brief article includes additional information such as Rungi’s assessment that “being ugly is not a requirement for becoming a nun” and that the beauty contest will not have nuns parading around in bathing suits. Great.
While I applaud Rungi’s desire to promote the good work that Catholic nuns are doing, I am appalled by the technique with which he is doing it. Granted, maybe something got lost in translation, but the whole idea is offensive to me as a Catholic nun. Here are some thoughts of the top of my head:
- All Catholic nuns are not old and dour. I for one am neither of those, and frankly, if I were, so what? God calls whomever God desires — the young, the old, the sweet, the quiet, the energetic, the thoughtful. Religious life is so diverse and can encompass all sorts of personalities, passions, and callings.
- Pitting nuns against one another in a contest is just plain wrong. If we’re talking a game of 3-on-3 basketball, that’s a different story. Why not create a blog that profiles different sisters and celebrates each of them instead of making it into a contest which is just plain weird?
- Honestly, is a beauty contest the best way to address the “marginality of nuns in ecclesiastical life”? By having a beauty contest, Rungi is reinforcing the far deeper stereotype that a woman’s worth resides in how she looks and that she is only really capable of measuring up against other women.
- Catholic nuns and sisters are doing extraordinary things for God, the Church, and the world. We do not need to showcase ourselves: we live our charism day in and day out. Even the so-called dour nuns do this! It’s that commitment to living religious life fully that is what is attractive to other people.
I know you have thoughts running through your head so please join the conversation with me and other readers and offer your thoughts.
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{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Chuck 08.25.08 at 5:40 am
The problem is that Vatican City never sends athletes to the olympics.
I want to see a team of weightlifting nuns. Or Nuns curling at the winter games. That would shoot down some stereotypes. But no Beach Volleyball nuns…might as well just do the beauty contest.
Sister Julie 08.25.08 at 5:46 am
Not a bad idea, Chuck! I do know some nuns who could compete in their sport at the Olympics level. The biggest problem is that training takes up so much time and energy. That’s time and energy that we give to our ministry and to our community life. But I think you are on to something. Maybe we (congregations, groups of nuns) should sponsor a few sisters to dedicate themselves to training as a way to shoot down those stereotypes. I like it!
Angela 08.25.08 at 6:07 am
I think women who dedicate themselves to helping others are extremely beautiful. Too bad the priest can’t see the beauty within each nun.
Susan 08.25.08 at 7:07 am
Amen, Sister Julie. You need to send your blog comments directly to Rev. Antonio Rungi. AMEN!
donstuff 08.25.08 at 8:08 am
Beautifully written - well done. Now send it to Rev. Rungi!
Ramona Holloway 08.25.08 at 8:25 am
We would love to interview you about the Miss Sister contest today on our nationally syndicated radio show. I co-host an afternoon weekday program that airs in seven states. I aso co-host a faith-based show for women that airs on Sundays. I loved what you had to say about the online beauty pageant. It was so smart to post your blog address as part of your comments!
David 08.25.08 at 8:36 am
Been away from the blog for a while … ton of work… I like the new look. I was planning on sending you a link to the BBC article about this contest, but looks like I was “beaten to the punch.”
Like they say “truth is stranger than fiction.”
Hope that all is well and that you are still safely rolling …
Best, always,
David
Sister Julie 08.25.08 at 9:57 am
Ramona … I’d be glad to chat with you. I’ll be in touch.
Great to have you back, David! Hope you’ve had a good summer and enjoying your new bike.
Macrina 08.25.08 at 10:03 am
I saw a link to this on a biblical studies blog this morning and groaned. Nun stereotypes are bad enough, but it’s even worse when people in the Church promote them.
I appreciate all your points, but I think that I would also add that I find the objectifying of all women as objects in beauty contests offensive. Years ago I read something by Lavinia Byrne in which she argued (if I remember correctly) that the stereotypes that people create of “nuns” are often an intensified way of stereotyping women in general.
Gayle OSF 08.25.08 at 10:49 am
I read about this first thing this morning on your blog and within an hour a co-worker found it somewhere and told me and then a colleague mentioned it at lunch. There’s about 10 Sisters who minister on campus. We all thought it was inane. All the Sisters I’ve known are beautiful (especially my own community!) The irony of this is laughable except that it’s true! Eek.
lionel (acid42) 08.25.08 at 10:56 am
Aw, man. What a horrid idea. Beauty contests are shallow and skin-deep. No matter what you call them. The nature of the event is to glorify what is “pretty,” and what is on the surface.
In comparison, those who’ve taken religious orders are NOT about what is pretty, and what is of the world, but they are devoted servants in the Lord’s service, concerned with bringing people to the world that awaits us in heaven.
Jane Comeau 08.25.08 at 11:25 am
Re: “Why not create a blog that profiles different sisters and celebrates each of them instead of making it into a contest which is just plain weird”
Agree…to start the contest anyone could visit http://www.sistersunitednews.org and find many to celebrate! http://www.catholicnunstoday.org has also done a nice job.
Another Sister Julie, CSSF 08.25.08 at 11:47 am
When our Tertianship (on-going formation, but it seems more like a third novitiate [the second one being the 6 weeks before final vows for us]) group was in Rome, we noticed that the Italian nuns, while wrapped in traditional or only slightly modified garb, wore such dour faces while waiting for a bus on the streets of Rome, or screaming at the scantily clad girls that got past the modesty police at the doors of the basilicas somehow, that their faces couldn’t POSSIBLY attract young women to join their orders! Maybe this is what the priest should address instead of a holy meat market!
Who’s to say who is beautiful or not? Mother Theresa never looked more beautiful than when she was looking with love into the face of a dying person. Or the face of my own foundress in her last photograph, hours from meeting her great Love and Lord, all bent over with weakness and great pain, her body but an ember spent in living out the Will of God in service to His people in faith and trust.
Can you see I’m passionate about this?
Christopher Humphries 08.25.08 at 12:03 pm
Wowsers. Just wow… and this is coming from a priest
Did the bishop agree to it? Did he get approval? Physical beauty/attraction should have no place in the mindset of a servant/bride of Christ, nor those thinking on these brave devout souls. How much more fundamentally wrong can one person get?!
Is he really a priest?
The search for a “hot nun” usually comes from the sick minds of the porn industry, not from priests, that consecrate the hosts into the living flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is NOT a good thing, even though I’m sure Paris Hilton would call it “HOT”.
Sister Julie 08.25.08 at 12:32 pm
It’s pretty funny how sisters everywhere are being sent links to this story. I’m amazed at how far this story has traveling, but then again, it is pretty sensational. For whatever else one might say about Rungi, he does know how to create a media stir!
I don’t think that being aware of physical looks/attraction is out of place for religious sisters and brothers; but it is certainly not a focal point of who we are or what we do. And it most certainly is not appropriate as a centerpiece to highlight the life and work of Catholic nuns.
Did you read the Times Online wrote about Miss Sister 2008? There are a few more quotes by Rungi which are kind of disturbing. Honestly, maybe there is something missing in translation because it kinda creeps me out.
Ramona (who commented above) has invited me on her show to talk about the article. You can listen live online by going to the Matt and Ramona Show. I’ll be on around 5:45 p.m. Eastern Time for about 15 minutes.
Chuck 08.25.08 at 12:49 pm
Well its a little (make that a lot) sad, but the minute sexy and either nuns or priests hit the internet it gets a million hits.
Ann 08.25.08 at 12:50 pm
I read about it in today’s Irish News - couldn’t believe it.
mjpss 08.25.08 at 12:56 pm
for heaven’s sake, european catholics are like a dying breed…his main purpose is to bring people closer to God, to evangelize the Good News, to help re-awaken peoples’ dying faith…not organize a beauty contest or a POPULARITY contest! and if this idea is so cool, why not implement it on his fellow priests first? why does he have to make nuns his guinea pigs? somebody should call the vatican and give that priest something to do.
mjpss 08.25.08 at 1:31 pm
(after reading the Times Online article)… a calendar featuring handsome priests and seminarians…i cant believe it!!! what is happening to my Church?!?!?! this is so heartbreaking.
this just goes to show that we need to pray really hard for vocations, for REAL vocations, for REAL men and women who will uphold Christ’s values, and for church authorities who will be strict enough and smart enough to discipline and stop the harmful behavior of those who are not just terribly confused about their vocation but are also somehow destroying the Church from within.
and maybe a letter to his bishop or superior will be helpful.
i just hope that nobody enters his contest. what self-respecting nun will?
Joe 08.25.08 at 2:04 pm
Who does this priest think he’s fooling, this is for his own personal pleasure. Perhaps he should get on his knees and ask God if this contest is the right thing to do. The nuns that enter the contest are only showing how much they are dedicated to serving the Lord…NOT.
Then again times are changing. I went to a Catholic school for many years and the nuns all looked the same but now they have changed their style of dress, went more modern…why?
Melissa 08.25.08 at 4:27 pm
Simply disgraceful. There are no other words to say for it. I don’t get the fascination with beauty anyhow; physical beauty fades with time. Real, inner beauty is what gets better with age and grace.
JB 08.25.08 at 5:15 pm
I agree with Fr. Rungi’s goal - at least his *stated* goal (and I phrase it that way on purpose). Stereotypes in general are bad, and anything we can do to break down those stereotypes is a good thing. And if this shows young women that they don’t automatically become old and sour and dour when they become nuns, then it just might open some minds to a vocation as a nun.
That said, his chosen method of breaking down the stereotype is simply the wrong way to go about it. It *does* reinforce the idea of judging women (not just nuns) by their physical beauty instead of celebrating their inner beauty and committment to God.
The one caveat that I would submit is that it would be good to remember that beauty and sexuality/sensuality have somewhat different definitions in Italy than they do here in America.
Christopher Humphries 08.25.08 at 5:31 pm
It would be awesome if not one nun participated and spoke out against it
It shouldn’t be disobedient.
Cathy 08.26.08 at 3:16 am
Oh, my goodness! That poor priest needs a reality check and perhaps he need to spend more time in caring for his “flock” He has way too much time on his hands. Your reply to this well worded and most appropriate.
Sister Julie 08.26.08 at 6:13 am
mjpss … “somebody should call the vatican and give that priest something to do” … LOL! Seriously though, your points are well made. We do need to pray for vocations and we ourselves need to be well versed in talking about vocations within the Catholic Church. How will young people know about the beauty and adventure of religious life if we ourselves aren’t so sure what it’s about or if we’re not sure what it means or feels like to be called by God ourselves?
Joe … the dress of Catholic nuns has had many changes over the centuries. Nuns didn’t always wear the habit that has now become etched in people’s minds. Each community had a distinctive look, and many habits from the origin of a religious community were nothing more than the simple, modest dress of that time period and culture. The Church eventually required all women religious (nuns, sisters) to wear the habit (long dress uniform with veil). Around Vatican II, the Church encouraged women religious to go back to the original charism of their community, and for many that also meant being free to go back to their original, Vatican-approved, habit which was the simple, modest dress of a particular time period and culture. (This is way over-simplified, but I just want to give you a sense of the history.) Some nuns stayed in the traditional habit, others modified it, and still others eventually adopted the simple “habit” of ordinary, modest clothing. Though a very compelling image, the traditional habit (or any type of dress) is not central to who nuns are, even though it can be a reminder for nuns and for others of the sacredness of their vocation. We live in hope that by our lives, by our service and our prayer, we truly symbolize a life given to Christ and to being Christ’s light in the world.
Another Sister Julie, CSSF 08.26.08 at 11:19 am
The “pageant” was cancelled! WHO-HOO!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26379900/from/ET/
Vincenzo 08.26.08 at 1:13 pm
I am happy to learn that this priest has given up his wild idea of a Miss Sister Contest. I hope it has as well left his heart..or is he still carrying it. The Fr. should not claim to have been misunderstood.. he has simply never understood the beauty of religious life as it is lived by the Sisters. In any case it has shown the world what some of these priests we trust for their level of formation and responsibilities can in truth be so empty . What a learned Moralist Fr. Rungi had imagined and had planned to do must have shocked not only the holy founders of the religious congregations, his founder included, but even the devels. Did Fr. Rungi think of Mr. Fr. Italy 2009. Wow..how far can this go.
Tiago 08.27.08 at 12:15 pm
I do not understand points 1, 3 and 4 of your argument/thoughts.
1. “All Catholic nuns are not old and dour.” - That’s what Rungi said and the goal of the contest was to brake that stereotype.
3. Rungi wanted a contest based on external and internal beauty with a big emphasis on the latter. Where’s the reduction of women to external beauty?
4. “We do not need to showcase ourselves: we live our charism day in and day out.” - So why do you have this blog? It is not a criticism. I find it a good way of increasing awareness and communicating your work and the work of other nuns. It could increase vocations and attract more people to the just and good causes. The contest would have the same effects.
Your point 2 is well taken. Spiritual life is not about competition/pride and the contest could increase both.
Sister Julie 08.27.08 at 5:03 pm
Hi Tiago … well as thoughts off the top of my head, I don’t claim that they make sense! But thanks for asking for clarification. Yes, I guess the first one is a statement of agreement. The old and dour thing is definitely a stereotype which I don’t appreciate. I guess I would have preferred a broader, inclusive statements about the diversity of religious life in terms of age (young, old, middle age, mature) and affect (dour, sweet, joyful, pensive). To swing to the opposite side of the pendulum (from old and dour to young and beautiful) seems just as odd because while we have both, religious life is not constituted by one or the other. We are all kinds of women.
I think a beauty contest itself is so overladen with the emphasis on external beauty that by choosing that type of event or metaphor, Rungi’s endeavors automatically had that overtone.
Hey, I thought that was a killer last point!
I believe nuns don’t have to showcase our lives. We just do our thing. For me, that includes this blog which, by the grace of God, serves primarily to help people get to know a real nun, connect with other nuns, and to be with people on their journey, encouraging them and helping them recognize the many ways that God is with them. I don’t think of this as showcasing, but I could see where there might be a fine line between authentically promoting a particular good and sensationalizing it which is what the term “showcasing” has for me. It’s really a good point that deserves consideration — one that Rungi must have truly reflected on too because I believe he honestly wants to promote religious life.
Suzy 08.28.08 at 7:07 pm
Dear Sister Julie,
I was so surprised to see the “nun beauty pageant” on google, that I was compelled to look for a site that seemed to be representing the whole story and I came across your site. I think that the beauty pageant is not a good idea for anyone; males, females, laity or religious. It is demeaning to humans as a whole. But, there is always something good from all of this attention to this priest. I found your blog, I backtracked for a retreat, and found a section on the St Ignatius Press page that was inspiring and I was able to send that to my teenage boys. So, God found a way to make good out of bad, I now have your blog and the Press bookmarked to use regularly. Thank you.
Sister Julie 08.29.08 at 4:23 am
Suzy, so glad that you found my blog! The retreat is actually provided by Loyola Press which is a Jesuit ministry. I love working at the Press because it’s a group of people who work day in and day out to serve others and help people grow in their faith and relationship with God. It’s an honor to work with such great people.
Blessings to you and your boys, Suzy!
Tiago 08.29.08 at 5:57 pm
Thank you for your answer. I understand better your points, specially the last one!