Valentina di Giorgio
(ZENIT News / Rome, 01.08.2024).- “Pasión mística. Espiritualidad y sensualidad” is the title of a book written by the current Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which has been brought to public attention not by the author but by Argentine bloggers. The book becomes newsworthy for two reasons: first, because, like the controversial “manual” on the art of kissing (authored by the same person), this new book was not officially listed on the Vatican website when Cardinal Fernández’s appointment was announced; second, due to its content, which some have not hesitated to label as pornographic, while others claim it is a concretization of theology of the body.
In the 9 chapters of “Pasión mística. Espiritualidad y sensualidad,” featuring the cover “El rapto de pisqué,” topics such as “male and female orgasm” can be found, along with an invitation to “walk with the most passionate men and women in history through the sublime paths of mystical union, until reaching a point where the impossible seems within reach. Let us dare to live this adventure.” This book was published in 1998, three years after the also controversial “Sáname con tu boca,” a manual on the art of kissing, also by Fernández.
Many commentators have found it impressive (!!) that a celibate man can describe, for example, in Chapter 7, the male and female orgasm, how it is experienced by men and women, and also references to sexual acts.
Cardinal Fernández addresses the role of pornography in arousal and links orgasm to the mystical relationship with God. Chapter 8 is titled “journey to orgasm,” where he discusses the role of “intoxicating experiences of God” in the lives of saints. It is unclear whether he is making an analogy or if these “experiences” are a form of orgasm. In Chapter 9, titled “God in the orgasm of the couple,” he speaks of the possibility of a fulfilling orgasm in the relationship with God: “God comes to touch the psychic-corporeal center of pleasure, so that one experiences a satisfaction that encompasses the whole person.”
Towards the end of the work, Cardinal Fernández, who wrote and published this work in another stage of his life, includes the thoughts of the Muslim Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti. He is an author of Islamic erotic texts. Out of respect for the reader, we avoid quoting the parts that Fernández includes and refrain from reproducing them here.
The visibility of this work, unknown until today, has reminded several commentators of what the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Müller, revealed. In July 2023, he confirmed to an American media outlet that the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had a dossier on the work of the current Prefect.
For his part, journalist Bree A. Dail has pointed out that Cardinal Fernández not only prohibited future reprints of the book shortly after the initial publication but the book is no longer available on Amazon or in the IBAN catalog. “I don’t think it’s good to spread it now. In fact, I have not authorized it, and it is against my will,” said the Prefect for the Doctrine of the Faith to an American newspaper on January 8.
