A lot of the non-Spanish speaking American population may or may not be familiar with Father Alberto Cutie (Coo-tee-ay). He is a well spoken, photogenic, immensely popular media presence that has been called “Father Oprah” by some in the media to describe his role in dispensing advice in the Spanish speaking media.
I had not heard of him until some weeks ago when they started to publicize some fairly innocent pictures of him on the beach in Miami with his girlfriend. Of course a Roman Catholic priest is supposed to be celibate and not supposed to have a girlfriend. I had been reluctant to say anything before now about the whole affair until it died down and played itself out.
What happened is that the pictures got published. They took Cutie off his official duties. I suppose the RC church wanted time to have yet another so-called scandal to cool off and then go back to business as usual.
Father Cutie, a mature adult of 40, apparently had some soul searching to do or had already been in that process when the public figure in a public place got put on the cover of a Mexican scandal magazine. The decision about self, love, commitment, career etc. had come to a turning point.
While Alberto was on administrative leave, he decided to walk across the street so to speak to the Episcopalian Diocese of S.E. Florida in Miami and join that particular Christian sect that allows its clergy to live in the sacrament of matrimony. Matrimony is an issue that founded the Episcopalian or its mother Church of England and centered around Henry VIII’s need for a legitimate male heir to prevent civil war upon his death.
Father Cutie got married this week in Miami in a civil ceremony and hopes to have a church wedding after he gets settled into the job of Priest after he has passed a few administrative hurdles and paperwork to make him a fully functioning Episcopalian priest.
There is some bitch-bitch talk in the Catholic blog/news world but it is really how the RC Archbishop of Miami Lavalora is pissed at Episcopalian Bishop Frade of not following unwritten protocols of informing the other bishop of conversion and not making a show of the conversion. Well, the show thing was already in the news, and Father Cutie’s resume was no doubt already in the public forum. This was no priest knocking on the door at midnight and asking to change sides.
I think Archbishop Lavalora owes Bishop Frade an apology for unfair words stated about Frade and his neatly and quickly wrapping up and taking this matter off the public forum table.
I wish Father Cutie and his bride best wishes and good luck in their marriage. I expect to hear more of Father Cutie in his Spanish speaking media role should he choose to continue in that vein of his career in serving his God and his Christian faith.
