Bearded clerics make rare foray into pop culture to pose with their pets for a glossy 2016 calendar. Global Voices reports

A calendar featuring Russian Orthodox priests posing at home with their feline pets has gone viral in Russia.

Priest + Cat is published by an association of Christian artists, who commissioned a photographer to capture 12 smiling clerics in traditional robes.

Aimed at “promoting modern Orthodox culture”, the calendar starts with archpriest Oleg Batov and his cat Apelsin. Mr February – archpriest Pyotr Dynnikov, who also runs an animal shelter – is photographed with his two pets Angola and Vasik.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An Orthodox priest poses with his cat for glossy calendar. Photograph: Anna Galperina/AFP/Getty Images

While the latest issue of the famous Pirelli Calendar might have signalled a cultural shift by foregoing its usual provocative nudes, the makers of Priest + Cat hope to challenge the idea that traditional Orthodox calendars must depict saints and icons.

The priests will remind you of Christ, and the cats are anti-stress Elena Gatchinskaya

The project’s coordinator, Xenia Loutchenko of Pravmir religious news website, said Priest + Cat should be considered as the Russian Orthodox answer to the annual Italian Calendario Romano, featuring handsome Catholic priests, and the I gatti di Roma calendar, featuring Rome’s city cats.

Loutchenko says the casting process for the calendar was spontaneous: “It was whoever had a cat and was ready to pose for a photo,” she said.

She said the calendar is not officially supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, and was inspired by a photography book about the everyday lives of Russian clergy.

“I don’t see a big sin here,” Russian Orthodox Church spokesman, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, said of the calendar. “Priests have cats, cats have priests, sometimes cats even live in a church. I wouldn’t put such a calendar up on my wall though.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘The portraits are good, the priests are cheerful, but the idea is strange’. Photograph: Anna Galperina/AFP/Getty Images

Popularity

While the reaction to the calendar was mostly positive, some Russian internet users said they thought project was “kitsch”.

“I got some comments from those who are far from the church, [who said] ‘Nothing can help these priests, their image can’t be improved even with cats!’” Loutchenko told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

Users commenting on the religious website Pravmir, where Loutchenko works, also had varying reactions to the project.

One anonymous user wrote: “The portraits are good, the priests are cheerful, but the idea is strange. The priests are not pop stars to be depicted on a calendar. Neither are they close relatives. It is possible that someone orders a calendar featuring their relatives. But this one is a strange enterprise.”

User Elena Gatchinskaya countered the criticism. “What’s the issue here? This is a normal calendar for an upcoming year. The priests will remind you of Christ, and the cats are anti-stress. And they will also remind you of Christ.”

The Priest + Cat calendar had an initial print run of 1,000 copies but now looks set to print more as demand surges.

A version of this article first appeared on Global Voices