Unlikely Vanity Fair Cover Model Turns Heads

Melissa Knowles

Usually only celebrities and models grace the covers of the world's most famous fashion and style publications, but the Italian edition of Vanity Fair is bucking that tradition and doing something that has never been done before. It put a clergyman on the latest cover.

Archbishop Georg Ganswein, who is Pope Benedict XVI's private secretary, is on the current issue of Italian Vanity Fair. For years the archbishop has been dubbed "Gorgeous George" by the Italian media, and designer Donatella Versace even created a fashion line that was inspired by him. He's no longer being talked about just in fashion circles, because now people the world over will know his name, because he's officially a cover model--just not on purpose.

The 56-year-old appears on the magazine cover with the headline, "Father Georg--It's Not a Sin to Be Beautiful." Vanity Fair also describes the archbishop as the "George Clooney of St. Peters." The magazine does divulge that "Gorgeous George" did not pose for the cover photograph. An existing image was used for the cover.

The reason the magazine decided to feature the archbishop: Ganswein was recently promoted to the role of archbishop earlier in the month and elevated to Prefect of the Pontifical Household. As prefect, he arranges the pope's daily schedule and decides who has access to the pope.

So Archbishop Ganswein is making history as the first clergyman to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair. A spokesperson for the magazine said, "He is such an interesting person, we decided to put him on the cover."

If you're eager to get your hands on the magazine, it's on newsstands today.

[Related: Vanity Fair's 'New Hollywood' issue lacks diversity]

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