ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 tackles the phenomenon of the ‘Singing Nun,’ in which a community encourages an individual monastic to perform on the world stage, gaining an international profile for themselves and, by extension, contemporary Religious Life. While the advantages include evangelisation, a young and modern face of monasticism and certainly financial benefits to the community, this also involves risks, as shown by the tragic demise of the original Singing Nun Sr Jeannine Deckers. This chapter presents four case studies: Sr Jeannine; Australian Sister of Mercy Sr Janet Mead, whose rock version of ‘The Lord's Prayer’ charted worldwide; Italian Franciscan friar Brother Alessandro Brustenghi, the first religious brother to land an exclusive record contract with a major record label; and Sister Cristina Scuccia, an Italian Ursuline nun who won the talent show The Voice in 2014. These case studies are used to explore how such large-scale exposure of one individual's talents play out within community, and the effect on that individual and their sense of monastic, musical and personal identity through this ‘double life’ as monastic and media star.
