- Blessed be ye, on whose abs we can grate the Lord’s cheese.
Quick, think about Vatican City — what comes to your mind? Perhaps the Pope, the Sistine Chapel, or any of the thousands of priceless works of art from the masters of old?
Well, whatever you thought of, it probably wasn’t wall calendars featuring hot babes or hunks with rippling muscles. But what if we told you that you can buy just that in the Vatican?
It’s true! Right there on Saint Peter’s Square (and in dozens of kiosks across the city), you can find the Calendario Romano.
That’s not the name most people would recognize, though. The almanac is better known as the “Handsome Priests” calendar.
The thing is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. On every page of the calendar, you’ll find a young Roman Catholic priest with a chiseled jawline smiling happily at the viewer.
Calendario Romano isn’t just some one-off oddity of the Vatican’s tourism scene either. It’s about to celebrate a big birthday, as the 2024 edition marks the calendar’s 20th anniversary.
Let’s take a look at one of the strangest pieces of memorabilia you can find in the Vatican.
Sorry, the Guns are Covered
We should probably address the elephant in the room right off the bat. No, the priests aren’t posing nude, or even shirtless.
That wouldn’t just be appropriate for a clergyman.
Instead, the priests are clad in their usual official garments. Most proudly sport their clerical collars, while on others’ heads sits an ecclesiastical hat.
Yet, even people who aren’t into the male sex have to admit that these are some good-looking priests. It wouldn’t be much of a Handsome Priest calendar, would it?
Each black-and-white photo on the calendar depicts a young and hunky priest with well-groomed hair, a strong jaw, and a friendly smile. You know, the kind of smile that might make some wish these clerics were more prone to sin than their position might allow.
Alas, even if you discovered a priest you’d like to know biblically in the calendar, you’ll probably never find him. All of the priests are anonymous to protect their identities.
Or perhaps it’s because most of them are unordained models and other laymen in clerical costumes. It’s the thought that counts, though.
The fact that most of the calendar’s photos get recycled year after year might throw another spanner in your amorous works. That means the priests in the oldest photos are now 20 years older than when they were immortalized.
But hey, maybe the idea of a silver fox priest appeals to you. We don’t judge.
Sexy Priests Sell
The calendar has a bigger purpose than serving up some pious eye candy. Piero Pazzi, a 64-year-old Venetian archivist and photographer, originally created the calendar because he was dissatisfied with the kinds of tourists who flocked to the Vatican in the early 2000s.
“Every year the quality of tourism worsens. Many tourists don’t even know where they are,” Pazzi lamented to the El Pais.
Pazzi had an idea of how he might be able to help the situation. He wanted to create a guidebook that would give tourists tips about off-the-beaten-path sights and attractions in the Vatican that would let them appreciate the historical city more.
But how could he get absentminded tourists to pay attention to his tips? Well, sex sells, and so the Handsome Priests calendar was born.
“A young and beautiful face is the best option to make the product more attractive. The intention is to capture the interest of a broad sector of the public,” explained Pazzi.
His calendar has surely done that. During its peak years in the mid-2010s, Pazzi sold around 75,000 copies of Calendario Romano every year.
Saled did plunge when the pandemic put a stop to global travel for a few years. Yet, people kept asking how they could get the calendar, so Pazzi also started selling it online.
Although he recycles the images of the priests, Pazzi updates the calendar’s travel tips annually. After all, a good tourist guide should keep up with the times.
Blessed by Success if Not the Pope
The calendar may have begun as a tourist guide, but its unusual nature has turned it into a cult souvenir that some tourists seek out just for the pictures. Pazzi doesn’t mind, though — maybe they’ll glance at the tips and get inspired to do something authentically Roman.
Honestly, the popularity of the calendar is kind of surprising. You’d imagine some more religious tourists might be upset by the hunky priests, yet the calendar is still going strong after 20 years.
That fact just begs the question — do the supposed beautiful priests have the blessing of the Pope?
Not exactly. The Holy See has officially pointed out that it has nothing whatsoever to do with Calendario Romano and it is an “individual initiative.”
Perhaps that is actually good for Pazzi. He noted that the calendar is shockingly popular among Protestant tourists.
Then again, it’s not like he tries to propagate any kind of religious message with his photographs. Pazzi just wants people to appreciate the ancient city they’re visiting — even if he has to resort to pictures of handsome priests to get his point across.
“Through the calendar, I aim to help them understand where they’re spending their vacation and what’s around them,” he summarized.