Priest of ‘Catholic kamasutra’ preaches divine sex

By Mary Sibierski

Warsaw

Aug. 3: He has been dubbed the high priest of Catholic Kamasutra, but Polish Friar Ksawery Knotz says that by giving married couples tips on how to practice divine sex he is simply doing God's work. "I certainly encourage married couples to pray for a good and happy sex life - it's a way for them to become closer to God," said the 43-year-old Roman Catholic monk.

"At first people are usually slightly shocked but at the same time happily surprised," says Knotz, who like all Catholic clergy has taken a vow of celibacy.

Knotz has held retreats with more than 3,000 devoutly Roman Catholic couples in Poland since 2000, with the tacit blessing of church superiors ... and an approving nod from secular therapists. Couples are so eager to attend that his weekend and six-day workshops are booked solid for the next year.

"If you believe in God, then you believe God is involved in life, in love, marriage and in sex and sexuality - it seems natural to talk about sex to remove taboos and the label of sinfulness," says the monk, who resides in a monastery of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in Stalowa Wola, southern Poland.

The friar admits the popular teachings of the Roman Catholic church on the subject of sex have been weak, if not downright dissuasive.

"It's been labeled taboo or sinful," Knotz says, but is quick to point out that in keeping with the church's teaching, he preaches only about the joys of sex restricted to marriage between a women and men.

Both his book, entitled The Act of Marriage, and his Chance to Meet website, launched in 2004 and has both English and Polish versions, graphically explore the steamy details of divine love-making.

In a passage entitled the "theology of the orgasm", Knotz likens the peak of sexual excitation to meeting God in heaven.

"Love between a married couple expressed in sex, brings the human body closer to heaven. The ecstasy in the joy of sexual intercourse can be likened to the joy of eternal life," he says giving an unusual twist to the religious notion of eternal salvation. -AFP