A popular souvenir calendar sold in Rome under the name “Calendario Romano” has long featured 12 black-and-white images of a young man posed in priestly attire for each month. Multiple outlets report that Giovanni Galizia, who has appeared on the cover and in the calendar’s photographs for many editions over roughly two decades, says he was never actually a priest. In an interview with Repubblica, the 39-year-old said he was a photographer model who was dressed in the clerical clothing when he was 17, calling it something he did “as a lark.” Galizia also says he does not view the image as “sexy,” and he described the photo as lacking sensuality. The reporting frames the issue as a case of misrepresentation tied to the calendar’s branding: tourists buy it as depictions of priests, but Galizia’s account indicates he never attended a seminary. Overall coverage agrees the calendar has been sold widely for years and that Galizia’s statements contradict the “man of the cloth” implication suggested by the portraits.