If the most beautiful in the world become priests, nuns and seminarians
When vanity doesn't win and the most beautiful in the world take religious vows.
In recent years, surprising stories have emerged of young people who, after treading catwalks, photo sets and beauty contests, have chosen a totally different path: that of the religious vocation.
These are very different human events, but united by a central point: the discovery of a faith capable of changing life and filling it with a meaning that aesthetic beauty, the lights of photographers and the ecstatic comments of the world cannot offer.
One of the best-known testimonies of this period is Kamila Rodrigues Cardoso.
Former Brazilian model, she participated in national competitions such as Miss Brazil and Miss Universe but, at only 18 years old and after a difficult period marked by the death of her father and personal problems, she reassessed life's priorities and chose to enter a convent.
Today she is known as Sister Eva and continues to communicate with thousands of young people through social media, not denying her past but showing how even a path of beauty and image can lead to an authentic consecrated life.
"Give the best of yourself to Jesus," he says, it also means taking care of one's presence without losing spirituality.
The Mother Superior allows her to use cosmetic products, as long as they exalt her natural beauty. A gift that allows her to bring many people closer, breaking down prejudices about the Church even in contexts very far from the ecclesiastical ones.
Then there is the Italian story of Edoardo Santini, proclaimed "the most beautiful in Italy" in 2019.
He had a flourishing artistic career ahead of him: dance, acting, fashion. But, despite growing up in an anticlerical family, "inside me there was always a struggle," he said. «In everything I did I felt the need to find a deeper meaning in things».
The enlightened agnosticism of the parents and the debate with an atheist teacher during Covid have dug into him and in 2021 came the meeting with Don Alberto Ravagnani and his youth group "Fraternity".
With two other priests and under the guidance of the Archbishop of Florence, Mons. Betori, wanted to deepen his vocation to the priesthood and asked to enter the seminary.
In Spain there is the influencer model Pablo Garcia, 35 years old.
"For me a radically different life begins," Garcia announced on social media, "in a few weeks I will enter the seminary. God willing, one day I will be a priest.”
The influencer's video was viewed by over two million users in 24 hours, receiving thousands of comments.
However, he specified that he would have interrupted the use of social media, turning off the spotlight on his life. "I don't know if I'll be back," he told his 650 thousand followers, but I ask you to pray for me.
Just yesterday the new Miss Universe was proclaimed, it is Fatima Bosch and, unlike the colleagues mentioned above, she has not embarked on a vocational path.
Twenty-five-year-old model, originally from Tabasco, has a few news internationally for abandoning the event after being called "stupid" by the director, accused of skipping a shooting with the sponsors.
Interviewed by the mainstream media, she surprised many by speaking freely about faith and telling on several occasions how her relationship with God guided every step of her life.
Another well-known face is that of Kira Geiss, Miss Germany 2023.
Unlike the classic image of the beauty queen, Kira is an evangelical Christian and studies theology at the Evangelische Missionsschule.
Faith, she says, has arrived in adolescence and has opened a new horizon: no longer just competition, aesthetics or visibility, but the desire to build communities, listen to young people and serve others.
Kira continues to use the popularity gained in competitions, but she does so to spread positive messages, of faith and social commitment.
It is always interesting to discover how the vocation can also sprout in worlds such as those of fashion and the domain of vanity, apparently so far from those of faith.
Instead, it is precisely there that many discover that the greatest beauty is not measured in centimeters of the walkway, but in the choice to give life to God and others.
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