Italian popular newspaper apologies for ad with woman's naked backside

Italy's leading Catholic magazine apologized to its readers Tuesday after running an ad with a woman's naked backside and promised that in the future its advertisements would follow the weekly's wholesome editorial line more closely. Famiglia Cristiana sparked a minor controversy last week when it ran a full-page ad for an air ventilation company that featured a woman's nude rear in a steamed-up glass shower stall.

"If you want to see clearly, call your electrician now," read the tag line for the Vortice company ad.

The Italian media said the ad "broke a taboo" and indicated a change in course for the Catholic weekly, which is considered the most-read magazine in Italy in part because it is given away free in many churches.

On Tuesday, Famiglia Cristiana's editor, the Rev. Antonio Sciortino, apologized for the ad and stressed that the magazine's family-focused mission remained intact.

"Modesty and chastity are important values for us, which we don't renounce," he said in a note that was to appear in the magazine's issues out Wednesday, the AP reports.

"Respect for women and their bodies, which shouldn't be commercialized, have always been present in our news choices; but more attention will be made in the future in the choices of the content of our publicity," he said.

He apologized to readers, who he said had made clear their opposition to the ad.

The magazine's readers do complain about such things: In recent weeks, including the edition in which the ad appeared, readers have complained about "indecent" bathing suits that appeared in the magazine as well as "garbage" that regularly airs on Italian television.

T.E.