Romanian priests are campaigning across the country to convince believers not to watch a popular reality TV show that has broadcast live sex, Romanian media said on Thursday.
The Romanian version of Big Brother, where a group of young people live together in a house with live cameras, was heavily fined by the country's media watchdog last month for broadcasting images of two housemates having sex.
Several Christian denominations issued a rare joint statement condemning the show as immoral and urging viewers to switch channel.
"This program is of very bad taste and an unhappy experiment on humans which morally destroys the youth," said the statement on the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate's Web Site.
"Big Brother offers a false system of values in which freedom turns into frivolity, the truth becomes lie and the right, good and beauty are minimized," it said.
Priests in Bucharest and across the largely Orthodox Christian country were telling congregations the Big Brother show was jeopardizing their peace of mind.
The show was fined about $15,000 for its display of sex and its producers have said they will appeal the decision.