An Italian nun has shot to fame after winning a TV talent contest.
Sister Cristina Scuccia was crowned winner of the singing contest, The Voice, which is popular both in Italy and the UK.
After the results were announced last night, Sister Cristina said: “My presence here is not up to me, it’s thanks to the man upstairs!” She continued: “I’m not here to start a career but because I want to impart a message.”
She explained she was following Pope Francis’s call for a Church close to ordinary people and then proceeded to recite the Our Father on stage.
Sister Cristina is a member of the religious order, the Ursuline Sisters of the Holy Family, who has described herself as a former rebel.
The Sicilian nun said that she fell away from the faith but discovered her vocation when she auditioned for a part in a musical about Saint Angela Merici, the founder of the Ursuline Order.
The 25 year-old’s rendition of the Alicia Keys ballad, ‘No One’ has received 50m hits on YouTube. Her winning song was ‘What A Feeling’ from the film Flashdance.
Although she has reportedly won a record contract with Universal, Sister Cristina told reporters: “I will go back to my priorities – prayer, waking up early in the morning, school service. That’s fundamental for me to be able to begin something new later on.”
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