Anna Nobili is no ordinary nun. The 38-year-old used to be a lap-dancer, and spent many years working in Italian nightclubs. She is now using her talents in a rather different way - for what she calls "The Holy Dance" in a performance on Tuesday evening at the Holy Cross in Jerusalem Basilica in Rome, in front of senior Catholic clerics including Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Vatican's Cultural Department. Miss Nobili told the BBC World Service that the transformation from podium lap dancer to nun happened gradually.
Anna Nobili became a nun in 2002.