The Vatican, Italy – The Roman Catholic Church in Rome is experiencing an unprecedented surge in Catholics going to confession that it had to pull out some of the antique confessional boxes it had previously donated to museums throughout Italy and elsewhere in Europe. The surge consists mostly of women and gay Catholics.

The Roman Curia, considered the council of elders of The Vatican, said that in the last week alone, an estmated 300,000 faithful flocked to confessionals in various churches in Rome.  It attributed the uptick to the recently-released Vatican 2014 calendar which features some of the best-looking priests in The Vatican.

The Curia refused to confirm whether the upsurge was an unintended consequence of the calendar or whether the calendar was part of The Vatican’s marketing ploy to attract more Catholics to  the confessional boxes. “Either way, it is a win-win situation for the Vatican,” said one recovering Catholic gay man as he left the confessional box to do his penance of three “Hail Mary’s.”

The Roman Priests calendars are being sold in Vatican streets for 10 Euros each.