The Vatican's new women's initiative hit a snag last week when some social media users protested the use of a "sexy blonde" in the promotional video.

The "#lifeofwomen" initiative was launched just before Christmas by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi to explore women's issues, but fell flat.

"What were they thinking at the Vatican?" Hofstra University religion professor Dr Phyllis Zagano asked in the National Catholic Reporter.

"Aside from the obvious - sexy sell has long gone by the boards in developed nations and is totally unacceptable in predominantly Muslim countries - the fact of the matter is that highlighting a stereotypical spokeswoman is not the way to ask for women's input."

The video features Italian actress Nancy Brilli, an attractive, 50-year-old woman. Wearing a modest, long-sleeved blue top and dark pants, Brilli asks female viewers how often they ask themselves: "Who are you? What do you do? What do you think about yourself as a woman?"

The idea was for women to answer those questions by uploading a photo or recording a 60-second video and sending it to the Pontifical Council of Culture. After the outcry over the promotional video, however, the English version was pulled from the organisation's website. 

LUMSA University sociologist Consuela Corradi, who advised Cardinal Ravasi on the initiative, wondered what the fuss was about. 

"If we had chosen an ugly woman, would that have changed the message? I don't think so," she insisted.

On Monday, however, Ravasi conceded that the video was a misstep. 

"It allowed us to understand ... how we must represent not just the traditional sensibilities of Europe but also that of other cultures and other horizons," he said in a press conference.

"It allowed me to realise that the sensibilities were profoundly different."

The Italian version of the video remains on the Council of Culture's website.