The Vatican’s latest doctrine chief is raising eyebrows over a book he wrote as a young priest describing orgasms in graphic terms.
The out-of-print, Spanish-language book penned by now-Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, entitled “The Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality,” is comparable in tone to a different Fernandez book that sparked scandal soon after he was appointed, “Heal Me With Your Mouth. The Art of Kissing.”
Neither title was included within the list of publications the Vatican provided when Pope Francis named Fernandez as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and gave him marching orders to seriously change the office’s course.
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
The Argentine theologian had been referred to as Francis’ theological ghostwriter and has already shaken up the Catholic Church with a flurry of official decrees on issues akin to allowing transgender people to function godparents.
“The Mystical Passion,” published in Mexico in 1998, is a brief expose about mystical-sensual experiences with God.
In its final chapters, Fernandez delves into orgasms, including graphic descriptions of female and male sexual anatomy and his commentary about sexual desire, pornography, sexual satisfaction and domination, and the role of delight in God’s mystical plan.
Its explicitness suggests no less than familiarity with sex and orgasm that will seem unusual for a celibate priest.
At one point, describing the feminine orgasm, he concluded that girls are “often insatiable” and “may crave more,” purportedly due to ample blood flow during a climax.
Fernandez has refused several requests for comment from The Associated Press, and didn’t respond when asked Monday for clarification about “The Mystical Passion.” In comments to some Catholic media, he said he wrote the book when he was a young priest, would never write such a thing now and had ordered its publication halted soon after it first got here out after he realized it may very well be misunderstood.
In comments to Crux, a web-based Catholic website, Fernandez said he had written “The Mystical Passion” after having conversations with young couples who wanted to higher understand their relationships. It was the same comment he gave in explaining why he wrote “Heal Me With Your Mouth.”
“The Mystical Passion,” which was unearthed by traditionalist Catholic blogs in Italy and Argentina, “Messa in Latino” and “Caminante Wanderer,” respectively, resurfaced Monday as conservative and traditionalist Catholics have heightened their criticism of Fernandez following the publication of a declaration from his office approving blessings for same-sex couples.
(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
The declaration, which was approved by Francis on Dec. 18 and published a day later, sparked a remarkable backlash amongst bishops all over the world, with some national bishops conferences in Africa, Poland and elsewhere flatly saying they wouldn’t implement it.
The pushback prompted Fernandez to issue an explanatory note last Thursday insisting that the declaration wasn’t heretical but acknowledging that its provisions will not be applicable no less than immediately in parts of the world. He allowed that further “pastoral reflection” could also be essential.
While LGBTQ+ Catholics have hailed Fernandez’s openness to creating the Catholic Church a more welcoming place, conservatives have been vocal of their outrage.
Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, the retired head of the Vatican’s liturgy office, was the most recent high-ranking prelate to denounce the declaration referred to as Fiducia Supplicans, saying it was the work of the devil and insisting on previous church teaching declaring homosexual acts to be “intrinsically disordered.”
Sarah praised those bishops conferences in Africa which have rejected the declaration and said he joined of their ranks.
“In doing so, we are usually not opposing Pope Francis, but we’re firmly and radically opposing a heresy that seriously undermines the church, the body of Christ, since it is contrary to the Catholic faith and tradition,” he wrote in an essay published by Vatican columnist Sandro Magister.
To date, the response to “The Mystical Passion” has been fiercest amongst traditionalist and conservative Catholic commentators on social media. Coupled with recent comments from one among the Vatican’s most respected canon lawyers, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, saying the church should open discussion on allowing priests to marry, many on the Catholic right sense the bottom is shifting.
The Wanderer, a conservative Catholic newspaper within the United States, said the revelations about Fernandez’s book were cause for alarm and confirmed the direction of Francis’ 10-year pontificate.
“If this will not be grounds for immediate removal of Cardinal Fernandez from his post on the Doctrine of the Faith and the repeal of the the document Fiducia Supplicans — this pontificate together with our church can be heading further into the abyss,” wrote Joseph Matt, the newspaper president, in a web-based editorial.
The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, didn’t respond when asked if Francis still had confidence in Fernandez to steer the doctrine office, whether he knew about “The Mystical Passion” and why it wasn’t included within the list of publications provided by the Vatican when Fernandez was appointed on July 1.
