The new Bishop of Gozo will be chosen through a televised big-budget talent show, the Curia announced this afternoon.
After the Vatican announced Bishop Mario Grech would be promoted to a senior position in the Church after a 14-year tenure as head of the Gozo diocese, the Curia in Malta said it would help to pick his successor via the popular entertainment format.
The show, which will be called Cross Factor, will air on Smash TV every Sunday evening for three months starting in December, while also being streamed live on the Archdiocese of Malta’s Youtube channel.
Much like The X Factor, Cross Factor will consist of several stages.
Aspiring bishops who impress the judges during their auditions will enter a bootcamp, where they will be tested on various criteria.
These include the creativity of their homilies, the stylishness of their robes, and their ability to stick to church dogma while also burying any scandals that may crop up.
The number of contestants will then be whittled down further, and the remaining hopefuls will conduct a Holy Mass in front of a live audience.
The winner, voted for by the Gozitan public, will travel to Vatican City, where they will be anointed by Pope Francis himself. They will also be awarded a contract to perform 10 masses across Italy.
While the panel of four judges has not been confirmed as yet, an inside source told Bis-Serjetà the likely line-up would be Malta’s Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Fr Joe Borg, 91-year-old Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and Alexandra Alden.
Applications for Cross Factor open next Monday at 9am. The competition is open to all 15 of Gozo’s parish priests.
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