New Reality Show Follows Young Women Thinking About Becoming Nuns

— -- Reality meets spirituality in a reality show that debuts tonight about a group of young women thinking about becoming nuns.

The new Lifetime show “The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns” follows five young women leaving life as they know it behind as they consider taking the sacred vows and becoming nuns. The young women are in what's called the "discernment phase," where they live alongside nuns to figure out whether they're ready to put their faith above everything else.

“Women don't enter with halos. They don't come in holy,” one nun said in a preview of the show on “Good Morning America.” “God called them from where they are, and they all come from different backgrounds. It will be very difficult.”

"Difficult” meaning no boyfriends, no cellphones and no makeup, which the young women visibly struggle with on the show.

“Religious life can be difficult, especially if you're running away from something,” the nun said. “We do have certain expectations of dress, that it certainly be modest, and that includes your makeup.”

One young woman in the preview cries over this realization, saying, “But we can't have any makeup? I never even talk about my acne to anyone. It's something that's so personal. You don't understand when you look at yourself, and you're so scared that people aren't going to see you.”

Another young woman confides in a nun that she feels “broken.”

Lifetime calls this series groundbreaking, but others disagree.

Jo Piazza, author of the recent book “If Nuns Ruled the World,” said the show could put nuns in the wrong light.

“Nuns today deserve more recognition,” Piazza said on “GMA.” “But turning them into the Kardashians of the Catholic Church is 100 percent the wrong move.”

Religion and reality TV have become a potent mix of late with shows like WE TV’s “Mary Mary,” GSN’s “American Bible Challenge” and TLC’s “Breaking Amish.”

“I think that there is definitely a place for religion in television and in pop culture; it just needs to be done in a tasteful way,” Piazza said.