Cold shoulder for gay priest ices ad

The new Antonio Federici ad showed two robed priests eating from a tub of ice cream "in a seductive pose as if they were about to kiss passionately", the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said.

Accompanying text read: "We Believe in Salivation".

The company said it did not mock Catholicism but "reflected the grave troubles they considered affected the Catholic Church".

Antonio Federici was a Catholic company but it said it would continue to produce advertising that challenged the Church.

The ASA said: "We considered the portrayal of the two priests in a sexualised manner was likely to be interpreted as mocking the beliefs of Roman Catholics and was therefore likely to cause serious offence to some readers."