Sexy priests: the object of desire in series

BarcelonaThat a person voluntarily decides to live a celibate life consecrated to the faith may seem implausible to many people. Perhaps that is why the figure of the priest, who decades ago had a strong influence in the lives of parishioners, has traditionally been surrounded by a certain morbidity, especially if the priest in question is attractive. This cliché has been exploited quite a bit in literature and, by extension, in audiovisual media, with special incidence on television. Just these weeks, Mediaset, the Telecinco group, is in the middle of filming the series She, damned soul, centered on a love triangle that includes a priest with intense blue eyes played by Maxi Iglesias, one of the sex symbols Spanish officials. The fiction, based on a story by Manuel Rivas, once again highlights television's interest in sexy priests, which has several famous examples.

When we think of seductive priests, one of the first references that comes to mind is Father Ralph de Bricassart, played by Richard Chamberlain. The Thorn Bird (1983), which adapted a famous romantic novel by Colleen McCullough, explained the intense inner struggle of a Catholic priest who was torn between his duty as a religious man, his professional ambition and his passion for the young Meggie Cleary, who moves with her entire family from New Zealand to Australia. The miniseries was a great audience success, and became the most watched in history at that time behindRoots. In 1996, a sequel was released that explained everything that happened since the birth of Meggie and the priest's illegitimate child.

If there is any priest who can rival the one inThe Thorn Bird In terms of cultural impact, this is the one FleabagHe is a funny man, who drinks gin and tonics from a can and smokes. He is attractive and seems to understand Fleabag better than anyone else, whom everyone sees as a calamity with legs. They could be the perfect couple if it weren't for the fact that he is a Catholic priest and, as we end up understanding at the end of the series, he has strong religious beliefs that end up overriding earthly loves. However, we will never thank him enough. hot priest having starred in some of the most romantic dialogues on recent television. Surely Andrew Scott, the actor who plays him, will not thank the character enough for how it has made his career explode.

One of the advantages of Anglicanism is that celibacy does not exist and, therefore, pastors and vicars can marry and have children. Even so, remorse for carnal desires is also present in the life of vicar Sydney Chambers, who, in addition to spiritually guiding his parish, is dedicated to helping the police in the investigation of crimes. With a good-natured face, an athletic body – the series is generous with scenes of naked torsos – and with many cultural interests, Chambers has a group of admirers, from his childhood friend, Amanda, with whom he is in love, to a young German widow or the secretary of the police station.

That a priest succumbs to carnal desires can be seen as a work of the devil, since Evil They know a lot about the manifestations of evil. As if it were a The X-Files With a further degree of complication, the series by Robert and Michelle King tells the story of the relationship between a disbelieving psychologist and a future priest who work together to decipher whether certain events in New York respond to rational causes, or rather to divine or evil ones. Between cases, it becomes clear that between Kristen – married and mother of four daughters – and David, who is about to be ordained a priest, there is something more than a simple friendship. Will they be able to resist each other, or will they end up falling into temptation?

The Catalan Countries have also had their share of attractive priests with faith issues. One of the most popular series in the history of IB3 was Father Chaplain, broadcast more than a decade ago and now available to watch on demand through the Balearic television service. In this case, the protagonist was Lluc Capellà, a priest who abandons his desire to go work in Africa when he is called by the parish of the town of Sant Jeroni de la Roca, on the coast of Mallorca. During his time in the town, his religious commitment will be called into question by his relationship with Blanca, the town teacher.

'Bonus track': the sexy rabbi from 'Nobody wants this'

Priests are not the only men of faith who stir up passions. Thanks to the romantic comedy Nobody wants this, released last year on Netflix, we have discovered that rabbis can also be sexy and charming. As in the case of Anglican clergy, celibacy is not contemplated in Judaism either and, therefore, arousing passions between women is not as problematic as it is in Catholicism. The most problematic thing is that the rabbi's possible partner is a gentile woman, that is, not Jewish, as is the case in the series.