MONDRAGONE, Italy, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A Mondragone, Italy, priest says he expects at least 1,000 women to enter his Sister Italia beauty contest, which is open only to nuns.
Father Antonio Rungi said the Sister Italia contest is a strictly online venture but he expressed hope that high participation would allow the event to flourish into a full-fledged pageant, The Times of London reported Monday.
Rungi said the entrants, who must be between ages 18 and 40, would be judged primarily on "inner beauty" and would not be asked to wear swimsuits or any other revealing outfit. He said the contest is open to any novices or full members of an order, even if the order is not based in Italy.
"Do you really think nuns are all wizened, funereal old ladies? Today it's not like that any more, thanks to an injection of youth and vitality brought to our country by foreign girls," Rungi said.
He said some nuns from Africa and Latin America are "really very, very pretty. The Brazilian girls above all."
The priest said voting for the contest will begin next month.
