The book “Heal me with your mouth. The Art of Kissing’, written almost thirty years ago, has caused a stir in the Vatican – as the book’s author has been appointed prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The body was once known as the holy office responsible for centuries of persecuting heretics, disciplining dissenters and enforcing sexual morality.
Pope Francis’ appointment of the Archbishop of La Plata, Victor Manuel Fernández, is seen as an attempt to break with the past. Now some American conservatives within the church are using the reflections in the book to criticize the election.
The book, which Fernández published in 1995 when he was parish priest in the Argentine town of Santa Teresita, emphasizes the importance of kissing in human relationships and defines them as expressions of absolute love.
About the criticism, Fernández says that “these are ultra-conservative sectors that deeply hate the Argentine Pope (Francis)”.
– They take a phrase from the book and say “look at the level of this theologian. How can a person who uses these expressions be a prefect for the doctrine of faith?”, he says.
Furthermore, he says that he cannot be accused of anything because the book in question does not contain “heresy or error”. Fernández also believes that the critics should look to his later texts that have been published.
– But they take this little youth catechism from a poor vicar from the countryside and take phrases out of context.