In 2019 he was elected the most beautiful in Italy. Edoardo Santini had fulfilled his dream: for him, who loved beauty contests and wanted to model for the most prestigious brands and signatures, the spotlight had turned on, opening up the glossy world of fashion to him.

A goal that he had always wanted and which he achieved at 17, then something changed. That world didn't satisfy him, not as much as he had imagined in his dreams when he was very young. And now Edoardo Santini, 21 years old from Castel Fiorentino, is looking for happiness elsewhere.

The young man felt the vocation within himself and began studying to enter the seminary, he wants to become a priest. He put aside fashion shows and work as a model, but also swimming, dancing and the dream of becoming a professional actor.

"At 21 I find myself on the path to becoming a priest, God willing," he explains in a video published on social media. «In recent years - he says - I have had the opportunity to meet some young people who, by showing me what it means to 'be a church', have given me the strength to investigate this question that I have carried with me since I was little, but which various fears prevented me from exploring further. ».

He does not deny the past: «In recent years I have met wonderful people who have given me so much and allowed me to experience art. I won't abandon everything, because my passions are part of me but I will live them and propose them again in different contexts."

«Last year - he says - to take a first step I went to live with two priests and that was the most beautiful experience of my life, an experience that allowed me to meet brothers and which allowed me to meet in everyday life that answer that I was waiting for would come from above."

After asking Bishop Santini he began studying theology and serving in two parishes of the Florentine diocese: «What if I become a priest? I don't know, I'm here to find out. I took that step that terrified me, that prevented me from being fully myself, ready in case to say: 'No, I was wrong'. What I am certain of, however, is that I will not regret this trip, because now I can shout: I am Edoardo, I am 21 years old and I am happy."