Two well-connected Roman Catholic writers have written a spicy sex volume that includes a theological justification for post-coital masturbation.
Roberto Beretta and Elisabetta Broli, regular writers for the Italian bishops' magazine Avvenire have co-authored "It's a Sin Not to Do It," the Telegraph reported Monday.
The book, which appears to be sanctioned by the Vatican, seeks to encourage churchgoers to make love more often in an effort to offset "impotence and frigidity" and address papal concerns over declining birth rates among Italian Roman Catholics.
"When people think of the church and sex, they think of prohibitions and taboos," said Beretta. "But there is a very different and positive side to church doctrine."
One chapter offers a theological justification for post-coital masturbation for women who fail to achieve orgasm during intercourse.
Bullet points on the book's jacket set the volume's tone: "Sex? God invented it. Original sin? Sex has nothing to do with it. Without sex there is no real marriage."