When we think of nuns, thoughts of Madonna may often follow. Ordinarily, this would be a reference to the Virgin Mary; for some this week, however, the other one, the singer, came to mind. Sicilian sister Cristina Scucci, who won on The Voice of Italy show earlier this year, released her version of the 1984 hit Like a Virgin.
This was quickly followed by a video of two American priests, Reverends David Rider and John Gibson, engaging in a tap dance-off, at an April fundraiser at the Pontifical North American College near the Vatican. The video has recently gone viral, with over 700,000 views.
These viral videos are only small echoes of the pop culture fascination with priests and nuns breaking habit. There’s Bing Crosby as a singing priest saving his church from closure in the Academy Award-winning Going My Way, from 1944. The 1990s produced Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg, in which said star revitalises a church choir through the power of gospel and rock and roll music. It was nominated for the American Film Institute’s 100 Funniest American Films.
But perhaps the most defining, and memorable, example is Julie Andrews’s performance in The Sound of Music as a soon-to-be-ex-nun dancing and singing through the hills of Austria, first alone as she sneaks out of the covent and later with the Von Trapp children.
When showing these figures in film, it would be expected that their message would be about the transformation of religion. Instead, they demonstrate the transforming power of performance, of song specifically. Their religious beliefs may not be universal, but the appeal of song and of dance is.
Sister Cristina and Reverends Rider and Gibson continue in these steps, despite criticisms that dancing beneath a crucifix was “disrespectful”. In response, Rider noted that the Bible is “where the Lord tells us to live with joy”.
Nor are Catholics the only ones making waves through song.
Ahmet Muhsin Tuzer is an Islamic imam, or prayer leader, in Turkey. He is also the founder and frontman of FiRock. While this may seem an unexpected mix of cultures, Tuzer sees it as a religious fulfilment.
In an interview with the Morocco World News, he explained: “If the music you are creating is affecting people in a spiritually good way, it may count as worshipping.”
While not quite as viral as Sister Cristina, the 60,000 views of FiRock’s Come to God drew enough attention to warrant an investigation of Tuzer for possibly espousing values contrary to the country’s conservative brand of Islam. Thankfully, Tuzer was given permission to continue performing as FiRock’s frontman while maintaining his position as an imam.
