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Organised religions are always looking for ways to entice new believers. Now it looks like Playboy may have stumbled on a winning strategy: porn.

The Mexican edition of the magazine recently published a cover (left) that features a topless model draped in white cloth, standing next to a stained glass window with the words "Te Adoramos, Maria" written underneath.

Amazingly, some people thought the cover was a reference to the Virgin Mary.

"How many nativity scenes are out there this time of the year?" Father Albert Cutie, a radio host from the USA, told CNN. "How many times is Mary a central figure in this whole celebration? And this is offensive. This is very offensive. It's blasphemous."

Playboy has since issued an apology pointing out that the Mexican edition of the magazine is published by a licensee, and does not have its covers approved or edited by the US-based Playboy Inc.

"While Playboy Mexico never meant for the cover or images to offend anyone, we recognise that it has created offense, and we as well as Playboy Mexico offer our sincerest apologies," the statement said.

We would never take a side in a debate like this -- and for the record, we're long-standing Playboy fans. But let us just say that if every image in the bible was this hot, we'd be going to church a lot more than we are.

Gallery: Playboy's hottest covers of 2008.