An influential Catholic organization is asking Pope Francis to dismiss a top Vatican official after sexually explicit books he wrote decades ago have resurfaced.
The John Paul II Academy for Human Life and Family released a statement calling on Pope Francis to dismiss Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez of Argentina from his position as Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The statement follows news reports that surfaced about sexually explicit, out-of-print books Fernandez wrote in the 1990s featuring reflections on “spirituality and sensuality.” Fernandez, made a cardinal by Pope Francis last September, is behind the Vatican’s recent document, Fiducia Supplicans, approving priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples.
In one of the books, Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality, Fernandez wrote about a supposed mystical erotic encounter between Jesus Christ and a teenage girl. Fernandez has since expressed regret for his earlier writings, suggesting he was young when they were published. Having pulled it from the presses, he said he would not authorize those writings to be republished.