Rome’s ‘sexy priest’ calendar star comes clean about his affiliation with the church

Nypost · May 21, 2026 · 741 words · By Associated Press

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/21/world-news/romes-sexy-priest-calendar-star-is-not-…

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8 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

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info Single Source 2

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“Giovanni Galizia has been the cover shot for the so-called sexy priest calendar for many of the last 23 editions.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (The Independent, azeritimes.com, and another web search result) confirm that Giovanni Galizia has been the cover model for many of the last 23 editions of the 'sexy priest calendar'.

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web search NEUTRAL — 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…
https://www.wral.com/news/ap/da766-holy-deception-romes-sexy…

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web search NEUTRAL — The long-standing cover model, Giovanni Galizia, whose enigmatic smile has adorned the so-called "sexy priest calendar" for many of its 23 editions, is among those who never took holy orders. Galizia,…
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rome-sexy-pr…

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web search NEUTRAL — The long-standing cover model, Giovanni Galizia, whose enigmatic smile has adorned the so-called “sexy priest calendar” for many of its 23 editions, is among those who never took holy orders. Galizia,…
https://azeritimes.com/rome-sexy-priest-calendar-star-admits…

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“The calendar is not affiliated with the Vatican”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the calendar is not affiliated with the Vatican; one source explicitly states it is produced by the photographer's own company and not the Vatican itself.

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web search NEUTRAL — Officially named Calendario Romano, each edition features 12 black-and-white portraits of men mostly in clerical attire — many of which are recycled year after year. Galizia only knew one of the other…
https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/italy-priest-calend…

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web search NEUTRAL — The hot priest calendar is not its official name but, over the past two decades, the moniker has stuck (for reasons clear to anyone who’s seen it). Next year marks 20 years since the “calendario Roman…
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/dec/14/forgive…

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web search NEUTRAL — The famed "hot priest" calendar from Rome, renowned for featuring attractive clerics, has been revealed by its photographer to have few actual priests as models. Piero Pazzi, responsible for the A4-si…
https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/creator-admits…

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“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”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm Galizia was 17 when photographed and is now a flight attendant for a Spanish airline. While one source says he is 36 and another says 39, the core facts of his age at the time of the photo and his current profession are corroborated.

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web search NEUTRAL — In an interview with Repubblica daily Monday, the now 39-year-old flight attendant instructor said he donned the priestly garb as a lark with a photographer when he was 17 years old.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260518-star-of-rome-…

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web search NEUTRAL — In fact, his name is Giovanni Galizia and he was photographed by Pazzi for the calendar when he was 17 years old — he is now 36 and works as a flight attendant in Palermo.
https://petapixel.com/2024/01/23/photographer-admits-his-ann…

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web search NEUTRAL — He currently works for a Spanish airline. “I was very young when the photograph was taken, I was 17-years-old. I didn’t imagine that it would continue to be in circulation for 20 years.” Cortesía de G…
https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-10-22/twenty-years-o…

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“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.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of search results for a singer named Piero De Benedictis and a restaurant, which are unrelated to the photographer Piero Pazzi. No evidence was found regarding gondolier calendars or cat museums in Budapest and Montenegro.

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web search NEUTRAL — Piero De Benedictis (stage name Piero) (born 19 April 1945) is an Italian -born Argentine singer/songwriter who also holds Colombian citizenship. [1][2] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piero de…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_de_Benedictis

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web search NEUTRAL — Dec 31, 2021 · @PieroDeBenedictis @Piero-Videos #Piero #PieroDeBenedictis #JoseTcherkaski #MiViejo Mi Viejo (Piero - José) canción que pertenece al primer LP editado en 1969. Este fragmento está ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69VStYa0aBA

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web search NEUTRAL — Piero’s Italian Cuisine is known for its classy, old-school environment for great food, great drinks, and amazing service. With classic cocktails, craft beer, and one of the largest wine selections Ve…
https://www.pieroscuisine.com/

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“Officially named Calendario Romano, each edition features 12 black-and-white portraits of men mostly in clerical attire”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (The Independent, The Guardian, and another news source) confirm the official name is 'Calendario Romano' and that it features 12 black-and-white portraits of men in clerical attire.

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web search NEUTRAL — Officially named Calendario Romano, each edition showcases 12 black-and-white portraits of men, mostly in clerical attire.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rome-sexy-pr…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Calendario Romano features a dozen black-and-white images of handsome priests captured by Italian photographer Piero Pazzi. The product is sold-out at shops across Rome.
https://nypost.com/2022/12/16/hot-priests-calendar-sets-puls…

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web search NEUTRAL — Each month of the A4 flip calendar is represented by a nameless man of the cloth, photographed in black and white and usually against an ornate liturgical backdrop. Some wear a cappello romano (a type…
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/dec/14/forgive…

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“Pazzi told the AP that at least one-third of those pictured in the already-released 2027 calendar are actually priests”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim is irrelevant, consisting of search results for a singer and a restaurant. There is no evidence in the provided text confirming Pazzi's statement about the 2027 calendar's composition.

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“The calendar sells for around eight euros (around $9.30) in shops that surround the Vatican and crowd Rome’s historic center.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent sources (The Independent and another web search result) explicitly state the calendar sells for around 8 euros in shops surrounding the Vatican and Rome's historic center.

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web search NEUTRAL — Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State, often shortened as the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state. Ruled by the pope, it is an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy, and serves as…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City

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web search NEUTRAL — The calendar retails for around 8 euros in shops surrounding the Vatican and throughout Rome’s historic centre, with one shop clerk, Hassam Mohammad, reporting sales of a handful daily (AP).
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rome-sexy-pr…

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web search NEUTRAL — The calendar sells for around 8 euros (around $9.30) in shops that surround the Vatican and crowd Rome’s historic center. One shop clerk, Hassam Mohammad, said he sells a handful of them every day.
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/world/2026/05/20/holy-dece…

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“Pazzi includes a page of information about the Vatican in the calendar, but its production is independent and unrelated to the Holy See.”

CORROBORATED

The official website for Calendario Romano 2027 confirms it contains general information about the Vatican State, and a separate source confirms it is produced by the photographer's company and is independent of the Holy See.

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web search NEUTRAL — Ask the price for CALENDARIO ROMANO by filling the form (minimum order 2 pieces). Shipments all over the world. The CALENDARIO ROMANO has different pictures in it and also contains generical informati…
https://calendarioromano.org/english/

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web search NEUTRAL — So the calendar isn't produced by the Vatican itself, but by the photographer's own company.Pazzi may not be a Holy See employee but his website and publication read like they came straight from the V…
https://twitter.com/darachos/status/1456929124283473922

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.

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Rome’s ‘sexy priest’ calendar star comes clean about his affiliation with the church

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