Catholic priest admits to two year affair after photos appear.

[edbermac]

With an adult female, no less.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/11/florida.priest.affair/index.html
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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- An internationally known Catholic priest who was shown in photographs last week embracing a bathing-suit-clad woman on a Florida beach has admitted they had a two-year affair. The Rev. Alberto Cutie was removed from his duties after pictures showed him bare-chested with a woman.

The Rev. Alberto Cutie -- sometimes called "Father Oprah" because of the advice he gave on Spanish-language media -- said Monday on CBS' "Early Show" that he is in love with the woman and is considering his options: Whether to break up with her or leave the priesthood and marry her. The woman, who has not been publicly identified, wants to get married, Cutie said.

The priest was removed from his duties last week at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Miami Beach, Florida, and on the Radio Paz and Radio Peace networks. "I take full responsibility for what I did, and I know it's wrong," he said Monday.

The photos of the Cuban-American priest, also known as "Padre Alberto," appeared on the cover of last week's TV Notas magazine and on eight inside pages. The cover says in Spanish: "Good God! Padre Alberto. First photos of a priest 'in flagrante' with his lover."

Other media outlets throughout Latin America, including the official Notimex news agency in Mexico, picked up the story, and it became an Internet sensation. Cutie has millions of followers in the Spanish-speaking world. In a message posted on the Miami, Florida, archdiocese Web page last week, Archbishop John C. Favalora apologized to parishioners and radio listeners for what he called a "scandal."

"Father Cutie made a promise of celibacy and all priests are expected to fulfill that promise with the help of God," Favalora said. "Father Cutie's actions cannot be condoned despite the good works he has done as a priest."

[shadowknows69]

1. Honesty is the best policy

But not until you're caught apparently.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

2. That's weird

Most priests I know are gay.

See what happens when you let straight people become priests?!?!? They can't control themselves.

[TheCoxwain]

3. Better a girl friend than an Altar boy

[joeybee12]

4. The Church needs to get rid of that celibacy rule...

...pretty stupid, IMHO...priests should be allowed to be married.

[TheCoxwain]

7. The Church will eventually do the right thing ......after

about 150 years it is obvious to everyone else.

So we have a while to wait.

:boring:

[joeybee12]

14. 150 years from now...

...that'd be about right.

[Xithras]

18. It was imposed for good reason, but has outlived its usefulness.

It was instituted for two reasons.

1) The priestly vow of poverty once forced priests to give their belongings to the church. This means that if an heir-daughter married a priest, the Church gained control over the daughters property as well. This marriage-based ceding of lands to the church was once a source of a lot of strife.

2) Priests took no paycheck in the early days, and had no resources to support wives and children. If a priest married and had kids, the church had to support them. If the priest died (not uncommon in the days before medicine), the wife and child would find themselves homeless and penniless.

Neither of those concerns applies today. Now, it's simply tradition. It's time for that tradition to end.

[Warpy]

22. Absolutely, dating seems to have humanized the old boy

instead of keeping him rigid, punishing everybody else for his own self enforced celibacy.

One of my dad's jobs during the Depression was driving the parish priest once a week to a house of ill repute in a neighboring town. My dad said he was one of the few normal guys in the priesthood he'd ever met. The priest told him an attractive lie about the destination, but you couldn't put anything past the teenager from hell my dad was.

It doesn't always work, of course. The stuffed shirt asshole of a priest who sent me stomping off in disgust at the age of ten was caught with one of the teachers at the school. He defrocked and married her and I've always felt horribly sorry for that poor woman.

It's a real pity the church doesn't grow up and allow marriage for parish priests, even if they still deny it to the princes of the church in order to keep the boodle away from progeny and in the church's coffers.

It's worked well in England. It would work well elsewhere and cut down on the damage to altar boys and the legal settlements for it.

[ecstatic]

5. He should resign and get married

A lying priest is not a good look.

[peace13]

6. Too funny, they fire the ones who have sex with women

and relocate the molesters. What's up with that? Excuse me, I just went to a Catholic wedding on Saturday and the priest gave the groom (non-Catholic)quite a rubbing. I guess this young man will be praying with his new wife regularly, attending church and working on populating the church right from the get go.

[dugaresa]

8. I predict he gets married

then he can have the girl and I bet Telemundo will have him host a TV show like Dr. Phil

[malaise]

9. I wish him all that is good

Love, a family and good health.
Thanks for being normal Father Cutie and you are a cutie.

[madaboutharry]

10. I saw a clip of him this morning

He loves this woman. He needs to work through the process of moving on from the priesthood and marry this woman. It seemed clear that is what he wants.

[Fuzz]

11. God, please bless this coochie I'm about to hit and please don't let Bill Donahue

find out about this.

Amen.

[MgtPA]

12. Is name is Father "Cutie"???

Is that like Father What-A-Waste, the heart throb of junior high?
:loveya:

[Sebass1271]

17. yes that is his real name.. in spanish the e at the end of his

last name is pronounced with an accent over it.. like Ku-ti eh...

he is a real cutie though..and he is very respected in the hispanic community.. i don't know what will happen to him after this news broke.. hes done good work for the needy..

[Ocracoker16]

13. Wakeup Call for Catholic Church- get rid of vow of celibacy

Many mainline Protestant denominations allow priests to marry. These churches aren't having problems with pedophiles. Maybe they should consider it. It has been suggested at many times but especially recently.

[CJCRANE]

19. The old cardinals who've lived a lifetime of celibacy

aren't going to want to change the rules and see the young priests enjoying themselves!

I think that's the Catch-22 of the situation.

[RoadRage]

15. The Catholic Church & The GOP are a lot alike...

they think that a "Small Tent" philosophy is somehow the best way to grow your organizations.. It doesn't make much sense to me, but to each their own, I supppose.

I went to Catholic School for 8 years.. and have never looked back since. The celibacy thing is hardly their only issue that makes little sense to me.

[stopbush]

16. As there's no god to help, the guy was on his own with the celibacy.

I hope he leaves the priesthood and finds something productive to do for himself and for his soon-to-be wife...and perhaps, family.

[Stinky The Clown]

20. Good for him!

Celibacy is a stupid rule.

[chaplainM]

21. Wait a minute

Isn't it a sin for Catholics to fornicate, even outside of the priesthood?