Poles bought 5,000 copies of the book, which has been dubbed the "Catholic Kama Sutra," within weeks of its release according to the BBC. The tome contains explicit advice on theological and practical issues about sex, including oral sex, contraception, and the importance the wife being satisfied during sex. "Some people, when they hear about the holiness of married sex, immediately imagine that such sex has to be deprived of joy, frivolous play, fantasy and attractive positions," writes Knotz, a Franciscan friar from a monastery outside Krakow. He argues that sex is an important way for married couples to express their love and grow closer to God, and can include oral sex and manual stimulation. "Every act - a type of caress, a sexual position - with the goal of arousal is permitted and pleases God," he says.

Some have questioned the monk's expertise on sex, since he is celibate, but he says he learned about sex from counseling married couples and running a website that gives sex advice for Catholics. "I talk with a lot of married couples and I listen to them, so these problems just kind of sit in my mind," Knotz told the Associated Press. "I would like for them to be happier with their sex life, and for them to understand the Church's teachings so there won't be unnecessary tension or a sense of guilt." Plus, he explains to Independent Catholic News, "I look at it this way: you don't have to have a heart condition to be a cardiologist and you don't have to be an alcoholic to work as a therapist."

Knotz's website, which is available in both Polish and English, contains a lengthy section on the importance of a husband satisfying his wife. He writes:

Through his love for his wife, a husband is obliged (after reaching his own satisfaction) to caress wife's labia and clitoris till she reaches an orgasm. A husband is doing his wife harm if he leaves her alone and unappeased... Woman's sensuality is different from the man's one and it cannot be measured by man's measure of sexual satisfaction.

Some have been surprised by the book's theme that sex is positive, but it has been approved by the Polish Catholic Church and is in line with church doctrine. Knotz discourages the use of condoms and birth control pills because he says they, "lead a married couple outside of Catholic culture and into a completely different lifestyle." So far, there has been no backlash against the book and there are plans to translate it into English, Italian and Slovakian.

Polish Priest Publishes Sex Guide [BBC]
The Act of Marriage [Szansaspotkania.net]
Polish Priest Advocates Happy Sex Life In New Book [AP]
Catholic Priest Writes Divine Sex Guide [Independent Catholic News]

Friends of Jesus are also talking about sex these days, and not just the missionary position. In his new book Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture , Daniel Radosh explores a Christian website called The Marriage Bed, which offers sex advice toChristians. "This is the site to check if you're looking for the Christian case for women using strap-on dildos on their husbands ('If the only access to the prostrate is through the rectum, and I know for a fact that my pressing on the prostrate increases his pleasure, then perhaps it is ok in God's eyes for me to do that for the man He's given me') or men ejaculating on their wives faces ('It's part of our nature to want to be creative with where we 'release' our most basic creative force, and I can't help but want to be creative, I was created in my Creators image')," Radosh writes. Facials, pegging, abortion: it can be a regular old liberal party when you're down with J.C.!

How Would Jesus Choose? [Newsweek]
Rapture Ready! Excerpt [Salon]