{"id":17879,"date":"2026-05-20T21:13:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/20\/holy-deception-romes-sexy-priest-calendar-star-never-set-foot-in-a-seminary-wsls\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T21:13:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:13:39","slug":"holy-deception-romes-sexy-priest-calendar-star-never-set-foot-in-a-seminary-wsls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/20\/holy-deception-romes-sexy-priest-calendar-star-never-set-foot-in-a-seminary-wsls\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy deception: Rome&#039;s &#039;sexy priest&#039; calendar star never set foot in a seminary &#8211; WSLS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Colleen Barry And Paolo Santalucia<br \/>Associated Press<br \/>Published:\u00a0<time datetime=\"2026-05-20T17:47:46.000Z\">May 20, 2026 at 1:47 PM<\/time><br \/>Colleen Barry And Paolo Santalucia<br \/>Associated Press<br \/>Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved<br \/>Giovanni Galizia poses with the &#8216;Calendario Romano&#8217; calendar that has for two decades been a bestseller in Romes souvenir shops, at his home in Verona, Italy, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo\/Luca Bruno)<br \/><strong>ROME<\/strong> \u2013 A calendar featuring close-ups of young, handsome men in priestly attire has been a perennial <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/rome\">Rome<\/a> souvenir for the last two decades \u2014 but few, it seems, are actually men of the cloth. <br \/>Giovanni Galizia has been the cover shot for the so-called sexy priest calendar for many of the last 23 editions. In the same photo used year after year, Galizia wears a clerical collar and flashes an enigmatic smile worthy of the Mona Lisa against the granite wall of a church in his native Palermo.<br \/>\u201cIt was the smile of an embarrassed kid, because I saw all my friends in front of me laughing out loud because I was dressed like I was a priest,\u201d Galizia told The Associated Press during an interview Wednesday in his Verona living room.<br \/>For Galizia, the shoot was a lark that left no mark on his life, until a story in the Rome daily La Repubblica this week revealed that the \u201csexy priest calendar\u201d could be more accurately called \u201cthe fake priest calendar,\u201d drawing nationwide attention.<br \/>The calendar is not affiliated with the Vatican, which declined to comment.<br \/>A popular souvenir with 12 black-and-white portraits<br \/>Now a 39-year-old flight attendant for a Spanish airline, Galizia was just 17 years old when mutual friends put him in touch with photographer Piero Pazzi, who has also created a calendar featuring Venetian gondoliers and has founded museums in Budapest and Montenegro on the history of cats. <br \/>Officially named Calendario Romano, each edition features 12 black-and-white portraits of men mostly in clerical attire \u2014 many of which are recycled year after year. Galizia only knew one of the other subjects, a French man who also was not a priest. <br \/>Pazzi told the AP that at least one-third of those pictured in the already released 2027 calendar are actually priests but provided no details.<br \/>Galizia said he has never been stopped on the street, though his cousins once gave the calendar to their grandmother as a gift, \u201cand they all died laughing.\u201d<br \/>The calendar was intended as art, not deception<br \/>Galizia sees the photographs depicting priests as part of an artistic tradition, noting that no one watching a TV drama involving priests believes they are actually played by clergy.<br \/>\u201cOf course, it winks a bit at the dynamic between the sacred and the profane, because it is clear that seeing a world that is distant and in some ways so lofty as the ecclesiastical world, with such a fresh-faced young man, creates a kind of dissonance,\u201d he said. <br \/>But he also said he doesn&#8217;t understand why the black-and-white close-ups have been interpreted as sexy. Pazzi also said that was not the point. <br \/>\u201cThere\u2019s a tendency to confuse what is beautiful with what is sensual, because nowadays, especially in today\u2019s world, which is quite sexualized, beauty is expressed only through sensuality,\u201d Galizia said. <br \/>\u201cThat said, I appreciate the observation and take it as a compliment \u2014 because managing to be sexy in a priest\u2019s collar is no small feat.\u201d<br \/>It has the blessing of at least one real priest<br \/>Pazzi won\u2019t say how many of the Roman calendars have been sold \u2014 but estimates several thousand a year. While Pazzi says he receives royalties, Galizia, who signed a release form when the photo was taken, said he has never sought payment. <br \/>The calendar sells for around 8 euros (around $9.30) in shops that surround the Vatican and crowd Rome\u2019s historic center. One shop clerk, Hassam Mohammad, said he sells a handful of them every day.<br \/>Pazzi includes a page of information about the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/vatican-city\">Vatican<\/a> in the calendar, but its production is independent and unrelated to the Holy See.<br \/>A priest from South Korea walking near the Vatican this week said that the calendar is well known in his home country, especially among young people who view the calendar with humor.<br \/>\u201cThey often think priests are stiff and distant,\u201d said the priest, who identified himself informally as Father Domenico. \u201cBut looking at this calendar, they think priests are more familiar, and priests can be funny. I think in Korea this calendar is very famous, and it is OK.\u201d <br \/>____<br \/>Barry reported from Verona, Italy. Giada Zampano in Rome and Nicole Winfield in Vatican City contributed.<br \/>Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<br \/>Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/tv-listings\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to TV Listings\">TV Listings<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/account\/newsletters\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Email Newsletters\">Email Newsletters<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/rss\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to RSS Feeds\">RSS Feeds<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/contests\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Contests and Rules\">Contests and Rules<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/contact\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Contact Us\">Contact Us<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/station\/2019\/09\/19\/learn-about-wsls-10-internships\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Internships at WSLS 10\">Internships at WSLS 10<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/careers\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Careers at WSLS 10\">Careers at WSLS 10<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/station\/2019\/11\/11\/closed-captioning-information\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Closed Captioning \/ Audio Description\">Closed Captioning \/ Audio Description<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/publicfiles.fcc.gov\/tv-profile\/WSLS-TV\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Public File\">Public File<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/eeo-report\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Current EEO Report\">Current EEO Report<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/station\/2019\/11\/11\/terms-of-use\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Terms of Use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/privacy\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Privacy Policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/usprivacy\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Do Not Sell My Info\">Do Not Sell My Info<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/station\/2020\/11\/19\/fcc-applications\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to FCC Applications\">FCC Applications<\/a><br \/><button type=\"button\" style=\"appearance:none;border:none;background:none;color:inherit;padding:0;cursor:pointer\" aria-label=\"Open cookie preferences dialog\">Cookie Preferences<\/button><br \/><span>If you need help with the Public File, call<\/span> <a class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__LinkBase-sc-1fnzlkn-9 iBLULw\" href=\"tel:+15405121559\" aria-label=\"(540) 512-1559\">(540) 512-1559<\/a><br \/><span>At WSLS, we are committed to informing and delighting our audience. In our commitment to covering our communities with innovation and excellence, we incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance our news gathering, reporting, and presentation processes.<\/span> <a class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__LinkBase-sc-1fnzlkn-9 iBLULw\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/station\/2024\/04\/18\/how-we-are-using-ai-at-graham-media-group\/\" aria-label=\"Read our article\">Read our article<\/a> <span>to see how we are using Artificial Intelligence.<\/span><br \/>Copyright \u00a9 2026 WSLS.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMiuwFBVV95cUxOVU8tWTd1LW5jT3NPWHZPMENGNjdWQzVPNWgyNUZ3d1Z6MTdkLVB6MkJoSmpadTZJSWljeUlqbUk1WEJjNU9HZzNybGNWS1NsZVdBa2ZxNy1VcElESHBUS2pnNXVsUTEtZGx6eHhRV2s1VlpHOE5CUlVzSmRHM1VfQjJReDhMam9CeU1vZzZEVWRYbjUtR3F0V1RPY0RiNWJlbG80UUpZSFBDaFlTTWlzWlNMTzJUS2xOaXY4?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colleen Barry And Paolo SantaluciaAssociated PressPublished:\u00a0May 20, 2026 at 1:47 PMColleen Barry And Paolo SantaluciaAssociated PressCopyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reservedGiovanni Galizia poses with the &#8216;Calendario Romano&#8217; calendar that has for two decades been a bestseller in Romes souvenir shops, at his home in Verona, Italy, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo\/Luca Bruno)ROME [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}