St. Priapus Church (), also known as Temple of Priapus, is a North American pagan religion founded in the 1980s that centres on the worship of the phallus. Formation and tenets St. Priapus Church was founded in Montreal, Quebec, by D. F. Cassidy and has found a following mainly among homosexual men in Canada and the United States. The church, which is named after the Greek god Priapus, teaches that the phallus is the source of life, beauty, joy, and pleasure. Ceremonial practices The phallus is to be worshipped, which can be accomplished by a variety of sexual acts, including group masturbation. Semen is also treated with reverence and its consumption is an act of worship. Similarly, fellatio is strongly encouraged; St. Priapus Church sees it as a commandment, a good deed which has positive effects not just for the recipient but for society in general, a practice facilitating world peace. (Well-fellated men, the church teaches, are less likely to make war.) Membership There are nine centres of the church in Canada and eight in the United States. The largest membership of the church resides in San Francisco, California, and it has its headquarters in Montreal. See also New religious movements Phallic saint Notes References Andy Nyberg. (1983-09). St. Priapus Church: The Organized Religion. The Advocate, pp. 35–37. Gay culture in Canada Gay culture in the United States Gay men's organizations International LGBT organizations LGBT culture in Montreal LGBT religious organizations Male masturbation Masculism New religious movements Organizations based in Montreal Modern pagan organizations established in the 1980s Human penis Religious syncretism Modern paganism in Canada