Newly publicized writings attributed to Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), are drawing renewed controversy within the Catholic world after an Argentine site reported the discovery of additional erotic passages from earlier publications. The findings, first highlighted by El Wanderer and reported by LifeSiteNews, have intensified concerns already surrounding the cardinal’s previously known works and theological approach.
According to LifeSiteNews, El Wanderer described the newly surfaced material as “not only pornographic but also detestable,” aligning them with earlier texts by the cardinal that incorporated sexualized imagery. Among his previously publicized books are Heal Me with Your Mouth: The Art of Kissing and Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality, which LifeSiteNews recalled had drawn criticism for “pornographic imagery.”
An Urgent Message from Sister Sara – Please Watch
Catholic commentator Liz Yore, speaking in a LifeSiteNews podcast when those earlier works became widely known, questioned, “What would possess a Catholic priest to write about the particulars of sexual orgasm, fornication, and everything in between?” She described one such work as “salacious” and “titillating,” asserting it was “hardcore porn wrapped up in a thin tissue of mysticism loaded with lewd eroticism,” according to LifeSiteNews. Yore also warned at the time that these writings may be only “the tip of the iceberg.”
LifeSiteNews reports that in the newly resurfaced 2002 book Why Can’t I Finish Healing?, Cardinal Fernández wrote a reflection on the human body that El Wanderer characterized as lascivious. One cited passage described how clothing can “awaken sensuality by accentuating interesting curves,” adding that in certain moments “a body can appear impressive, wonderful, indispensable.” The text continues with a contrast, noting that over time the same body reveals “imperfections, shortcomings, and pains like all bodies.”
A second book from 2005, Spiritual Theology: Spiritual Depth in Action, includes a detailed description of a full-body sensory exercise. The text instructs readers to “scan the entire body, paying full attention to one organ at a time,” emphasizing that it is not about imagining but “feeling” each area, from facial muscles down through the torso, “genitals,” and limbs. The guidance concludes, “There is no rush,” according to LifeSiteNews.
In the 2009 work To Free Yourself from Anxiety and Impatience, LifeSiteNews reports that the cardinal used the example of sexual climax to describe an intense moment of human focus. The passage states that when a person’s full being is unified in one direction, it becomes “a perfect union,” which “happens, for example, during an orgasm between two people who love each other.”
El Wanderer, as cited by LifeSiteNews, criticized the writings sharply, stating, “A person – a priest, bishop, and cardinal, to boot – capable of thinking, writing, and publishing such downright pornographic paragraphs has a serious problem.” The commentator linked these concerns to the authorship of Fiducia Supplicans, arguing that “that cursed document has given rise not only to enormous confusion within the Church, but also to immeasurable scandal and pain among the faithful.”
The site further claimed that the same pattern in the cardinal’s writings “explains the contempt with which he gratuitously treated the Blessed Virgin Mary, denying her two titles used by saints and popes,” questioning, “Why this horror of virginity and purity, virtues eminently embodied in the Mother of God?” according to LifeSiteNews.
The newly uncovered texts have therefore reignited debate surrounding both Cardinal Fernández’s past publications and his influential role in shaping doctrinal guidance for the universal Church, as Catholics and commentators continue to evaluate the implications of these revelations.
Your support brings the truth to the world.
Catholic Online News exists because of donors like you. We are 100% funded by people who believe the world deserves real, uncensored news rooted in faith and truth — not corporate agendas. Your gift ensures millions can continue to access the news they can trust — stories that defend life, faith, family, and freedom.
When truth is silenced, your support speaks louder.
