By Ray Stern

An Italian priest who wants to host a beauty pageant for nuns called "Miss Sister 2008" should consider coming to Phoenix to take a Holy See at Christa Parra.

Phoenix publications including the Catholic Sun, Arizona Republic and Arizona State University's State Press have already held a contest for the best-looking nun, it seems, and they've decided Parra's the winner.

Antonio Rungi, the ecclesiastical Bert Parks-wanna-be who came up with the idea, believes a beauty pageant would make the contribution of nuns "more visible" to the world.

Considering how rare it is for a nun to land on the front page of a major newspaper like Parra did this month, Rungi may have something there.