Benedictine nuns typically don’t go to the Oscars. For that matter, high profile actresses don’t consecrate themselves as Benedictine nuns. Dolores Hart did both.
Dressed in the traditional Benedictine habit of the Abbey of Regina Laudis of Bethlehem, Connecticut, Mother Dolores Hart was being considered for a short film Oscar for “God Is The Bigger Elvis.”
The film debuts on April 5 on HBO.
Wendy Carlson’s “A Nun Returns to the Red Carpet” is here…
The Vatican Radio gave space for our nun, Mother Dolores here…
The Editorial of the Catholic New York (Feb 23, 2012) gives perspective on Mother Dolores’ place in the entertainment world today…
Chiara Atik’s article “Nun who kissed Elvis will attend Oscars in habit” is interesting…
And Marco R. della Cava’s USA Today piece “Nun who co-starred with Elvis will return to the Oscars“
I have written of Regina Laudis Abbey and Mother Dolores several times here on the Communio blog. You may want to search the blog for other posts.
Going to a Benedictine nun going to Hollywood is exactly what should happen. She is not a Visitation or Dominican nun where papal enclosure is a requirement, she’s a Benedictine where limited access to the world is possible. In her world, she (and the other nuns of Regina Laudis Abbey) can be professionally engaged –in limited ways with the outside world but people find their ways to the Abbey– so that the culture remains engaged with God and the sacrament of the Chuch. Since Saint Benedict collected the chards of western culture in the 6th century to put it back together, his daughter Mother Dolores Hart is doing the same today. Her walking the red carpet for a possible Oscar, questionable in some minds, is a gesture of evangelization beyond compare.
The Dolores Hart 20/20 Interview is here.
Hey Paul, great story. I am linking to my blog. Hope you’re well.
Michael L
Hi Paul:
Do you happen to know if the Abbey refrains from written communication w/ the outside world during Lent?
Thank you!
Maria
Hi Paul:
Do you happen to know if the Abbey refrains from communication w/ the outside world during Lent?
Thanks,
Maria