Russian Orthodox Christians look forward to the second coming but they also have another reason to rejoice – their annual calendar. It’s an annual event that features muscular male models – many of them priests – in devout positions.
The goal of the calendar is to bring comfort and solace to the parishioners – like a prayer but only steamier. Poses include half-naked priests reading bibles, posing on beds clutching their rosary beads and in positions bound to bring more parishioners to church.
A release from the calendar’s producers reads:
The story takes place on the right bank of the Moskva River south of Moscow, where some priests believe that same-sex unions are NOT a sign of the coming apocalypse, contrary to what Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill may claim. These priests set out, in a humorous way, to remind the world that homosexuality is NOT one of the 7 deadly sins and in fact that Christ never even referred to homosexuality as a sin!
Yet in the words of many in the Orthodox hierarchy, LGBT people have suddenly become the worst kind of sinners — an omen of the impending end of the world. What about wrath, avarice, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony?
Three years after its creation, OC is still the only organized global effort against homophobia in the Orthodox region. Our creative team along with our gay-friendly guests are more enthusiastic than ever to work on this new series illustrating the ancient sins forgotten by a declining Church obsessed with demonizing the LGBT community.
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