MOSCOW — A group of Christian enthusiasts has released a calendar showing an unexpected face of the Russian Orthodox Church: cat-loving priests.

The Priest and Cat calendar released earlier this month by photographer Anna Galperina and editor Ksenia Luchenko shows 12 Orthodox priests at their homes posing with their cats.

Luchenko said the idea was totally spontaneous but it can now be viewed as a Russian Orthodox answer to the annual Italian Calendario Romano, featuring handsome young priests of the Catholic Church, and the Gatti di Roma calendar filled with Rome’s cats.

Luchenko said some of the priests they approached refused to be photographed, fearing that the project would be too “opportunist.”

The calendar hit the shelves last week and sales have so far been beyond expectations, Luchenko said.