Or so most of the reports read. One ex-stripper nun and her emphatic interpretive dancing has caused the monastery at the Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, a basilica built around 325, to be shut down by Pope Benedict XVI. I see how her performances could be considered inappropriate. She does roll around on the ground, looking like she’s sliding into home with the cross. (What’s the protocol there? Do they have to burn it like a desecrated flag?) But, I have a hard time believing Sister Anna Nobili is the most scandalous thing to happen within the confines of Santa Croce in 1,686 years. We’re talking about the Catholic Church here. What does everyone think? I find her performances to be heartfelt and enthusiastic, albeit vaguely sexual in nature and not the most nunlike. Judge for yourselves.
Wow.. she’s pretty graceful sans habit…
That said, I can see the Catholic church closing a basilica over that- I chaperoned a trip to Rome where a teenaged girl got our group thrown out of St. Peter’s for bending over at the waist to retie her shoe. How scandalous!
Actually, the Sister is the least (but most media-friendly) of the problem — the Basilica trucks on under new management, what happened is that the Pope kicked out the Order of monks that had been running the Basilica and closed their monastery, after a couple of years of investigation found the monks were running a variety of for-profit schemes including a limo service and hotel and generally living large off making theirs the “hip” celebrities’ parish.