Giovanni Galizia and the photo that has haunted him for 23 years: "I am not a priest."

For 23 years, his photo, wearing a collar and cassock, has graced the pages of the Roman Calendar, a collection of 12 religious photographs dedicated to tourists. Unfortunately, Giovanni Galizia isn't actually a priest, but a flight attendant. Here's his story.

Giovanni Galizia and the photo that has haunted him for 23 years: "I am not a priest."

For 23 years, the Roman calendar of priests has opened with a photo of Giovanni Galizia, young and handsome, complete with collar and cassock. Unfortunately, the now 39-year-old has never been a priest . The photo in question was taken by Piero Pazzi and has been circulating online for years, even giving rise to urban legends.

Galizia, in an interview with La Repubblica, told his story, saying he posed for that photo 23 years ago and that, along with him, some of the other 12 young men weren't actually priests: " Another one, like me, is certainly not a priest. Maybe he wasn't even Italian. But I confess that my shot was definitely not Roman."

The photo shows me in front of a baroque church in my hometown of Palermo, the Church of the Gesù di Casa Professa.” The young man said he had never capitalized on the popularity generated by the calendar of handsome priests, but how did he end up in it? He told “La Volta Buona” that, when he was 17, he met a photographer whose project was to describe some Italian cities through the most significant figures and, for Rome, he had chosen priests: “ I agreed to participate and he arrived wearing a cassock and a big hat. I never imagined that this photo would end up everywhere .”

Giovanni Galizia, who is he really?

Giovanni Galizia, as mentioned, is not a real priest; he's actually a flight attendant. He's now 39 and engaged, but has no children. However, the photo was once associated with a very serious story. Here's what he told Repubblica: " It was once used by an online newspaper linked to the Vatican for a story about a priest who swore, took drugs, and sold drugs. I had to sue to get it removed. I can still hear my mother's laughter. I don't think she understood the damage."