Posted on 05/11/2009 10:28:43 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
The Rev. Alberto Cutié, in his first English-language television interview since photos surfaced showing him frolicking with a woman on the beach, apologized profusely to the church and his fellow Catholics.
Though the photos have reignited the debate over priests and celibacy, he said he still believed in the vow.
''I don't want to be the anti-celibacy priest,'' he said. ``It's a debate in our society.''
Cutié appeared on CBS' The Early Show, telling anchor Maggie Rodriguez he had a romantic relationship for about two years, though he had known the woman much longer.
Unlike his interview with Spanish-language network Univisión, Cutié dressed casually for the CBS interview.
Missing in this interview: his white collar.
Cutié sought counseling from other priests, who have helped him deal with his feelings and said he was motivated by love.
The photos, which appeared in the Spanish-language magazine TVNotas, were taken on an isolated stretch of beach a few months ago. A lifeguard who works with the paparazzi alerted them he was there, Cutié said.
''It was imprudent,'' he said. ``It was stupid.''
Cutié said he's in the process of deciding what to do next.
When asked about marriage, Cutié responded: ``I think I need to pray.''
The woman has been identified in media reports as Ruhama Buni Canellis, 35, a divorced mother living in Miami Beach, but Cutié has declined to confirm her identity.
Cutié said he is not yet ready to talk about whether he will leave the church.
After the photos surfaced, the archdiocese stripped Cutié of his duties at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church on Miami Beach, but said ultimately it's up to Cutié whether he returns.
Alberto, maybe you were meant to be a Priest. No one will think the less of you if you if you leave the priesthood to get married to a woman. Well, unless you have one of those mothers who thinks your the ticket into Heaven.
That is what the press wants you to think. There will be no debate. The Pope just reconsecrated himself to a life of celibacy this past week at Vespers in Jordan. So, this is just more hogwash.
Breaking a sacred vow is a serious sin.
When Priests sin, change the rules, when people in the congregation sin change the rules.
Unfortunately for all concerned Gods rules don’t change.
There are also plenty of Christian denominations that allow for married clergy.
He’s already broken his vow. Now, the question is will he betray the woman as well. Go for the twofer, as it were.
And therefore unforgivable?
It’s not like he was molesting little boys.
Broken? Waddayagot, film? Maybe he just seriously bent the vow. Look up the difference between the vow of celibacy and the vow of chastity.
This is a matter for Fr. Cutie (OK an unfortunate surname) and his confessor. Now that it's in the newspaper, the Bishop is in on it, too.
Let's give the guy a chance, ok? It's a scandal. Not a catastrophe. I recommend a year on bread and water in a Trappist Monastery.
I am not a priest, bishop, or Roman Catholic, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.
No, only sins agains the Holy Spirit are unforgivable.
His vow to the Church has been broken but can be repaired. Adultery with this woman is not a vow.
Some seem to forget priests are men... with a higher calling, but men.
And the devil is busy.
Love the sinner, hate the sin.
Peter cut off the high priest servants ear... did he get better? Sure, he went on to deny the Lord three times (as foretold by the Lord, whew), he repented... weeping bitterly. Shall we get into the difference of repentance, see Judas, he chose despair and hung himself. James and John (the sons of thunder), wanted to wipe out Samaria... they felt the people weren’t hospitable. Then the Magdalene, whom he was close to ... should I say more?
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
As Paul said, “I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”
The law is a mirror, yet not a curse... grace a blessing.
Curses and blessings are in the scriptures for a reason.
Some imagine as soon as they believe, they are perfect; Be disappointed, for it’s the beginning of a great battle... a daily struggle; When we examine God’s word, we see more sin within us. We work it out with fear and trembling.
Luke:
He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.
10
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
11
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector.
12
I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
13
But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
14
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Before this a parable of the widow on the need of persistent prayer; After, a contrast using children for those who think they lay claim to God’s favor by merit... instead of the receptivity of a child.
Humility, prayer, forgiveness.
But for the grace of God go I.
As a Catholic, I believe and fully accept the teaching of the Church is God's rule according to the loosing and binding stated in Matthew 16:18 and many other passages.
New Advent states:
Celibacy is the renunciation of marriage implicitly or explicitly made, for the more perfect observance of chastity, by all those who receive the Sacrament of Orders in any of the higher grades. The character of this renunciation, as we shall see, is differently understood in the Eastern and in the Western Church. Speaking, for the moment, only of Western Christendom, the candidates for orders are solemnly warned by the bishop at the beginning of the ceremony regarding the gravity of the obligation which they are incurring. He tells them:
You ought anxiously to consider again and again what sort of a burden this is which you are taking upon you of your own accord. Up to this you are free. You may still, if you choose, turn to the aims and desires of the world (licet vobis pro artitrio ad caecularia vota transire). But if you receive this order (of the subdiaconate) it will no longer be lawful to turn back from your purpose. You will be required to continue in the service of God, and with His assistance to observe chastity and to be bound for ever in the ministrations of the Altar, to serve who is to reign.
By stepping forward despite this warning, when invited to do so, and by co-operating in the rest of the ordination service, the candidate is understood to bind himself equivalently by a vow of chastity. He is henceforth unable to contract a valid marriage, and any serious transgression in the matter of this vow is not only a grievous sin in itself but incurs the additional guilt of sacrilege.
Correct. But WHOA there, Hoss! We don't even know if they got to first base. Nothin' to this. Move along. They were caught on the beach, not in flagrante delicto. Amen.
Even if there is sand in the vestments, I suggest we do not give the lad the Abelard operation until after the trial.
"O Lord, make me to be chaste. Not just right now."
"I hunger for strange flesh."
St. Augustine
Which is probably why they named that sexy beach town in FL after him.
Agreed. I was responding to the poster who intimated that this priest, by having a relationship(kissing on the beach which has been confirmed) with this divorced woman constituted some sort of binding vow that relegated his priestly vow of Chasity somehow irreparable.
Even a piest can go to the beach with a woman. It wouldn't be news and he wouldn't have to make any decisions. He has all but admitted a an afair. (With a divorcee). He is a disgrace, NOT for human failings, but for only atmitting it when caught. How VERY Clintonian.
How long would it have continued, with him giving priestly advice on TV, if he HADN'T been caught?
Amen. Either way he and others are in my prayers.
As Our Lord said later in Luke, after the rich man who deemed himself following precepts couldn’t take the step of selling all he had to follow him. Afterwhich he said, “It is easier to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the house of God”.
Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
27Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
28Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”
29”I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”
And Paul in 1st Corinthians...
I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. 9But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
Then later...
I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord.
33
But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,
34
and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35
I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.
That's really his name? No wonder he had so much trouble keeping his vow.
While the practical effect may be the same, there is no such understanding, unless the individual chooses to take a vow (which some do, others do not - it is a private matter and no one knows except the person involved)
The purpose of any rule is to facilitate the goal of the organization. The rule of celibacy is certainly helpful for an active priest. When however, after a few years the priest chooses to become involved with a woman, the question becomes what would be best for the mission of the Church?
Lose the services of that priest, allow marriage and keep him working, or have him keep the woman on the side? Obviously the best answer is none of the above - but except for a very few asexual, or truly committed celibates, that is not happening for the ordained heterosexual men attempting to function in a frequently gay culture? How do we best further the mission of the Church or is control and discipline more important. Where does integrity come in? Must we lose the services of the priest who resigns and marries honestly? Are we better keeping the priest "celibate" and have stories like this one every week.
No more revalorizing time in illo tempore for him!
Abelard operation... (good one)
Augustines Exposition on Ps. 110
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1801110.htm
He gets going on this around 10 and 11.
We really don’t know much about this situation. Maybe the woman wasn’t married in the Catholic church. Maybe she received an anullment. This isn’t really something that we are entitled to know. I am sure that he will get some good counseling during his discernment. I hope that he returns to the preisthood. He has a gift for reaching many people with Jesus’ message. If not, I wish him the best in his relationship. God is forgiving, especially with those who are willing to ask for forgiveness.
I imagine it is very lonely and difficult to be a priest. They face many problems and much sadness, with no one to share it with. (I know they have God, but no one human)
The Code of Canon Law states:
Clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and therefore are bound to celibacy which is a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart and are able to dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and humanity.[1]
Maybe they can move him to a new parish. That has worked well with pederast priests.
The priest in choosing to break his vow commits adultery against the Bride of Christ, the Church and the remedy would not be for said priest to continue in mortal sin. There are no easy answers because this is such a huge rupture of faith/truth/love.
Must we lose the services of the priest who resigns and marries honestly?
Firstly, The Church has a permanent diaconate that would suit many men that want to serve the Church as married men.
While there are certain things that can happen in life that are out of our honest control there is nothing honest in this situation. There is a big lie regarding the vow. The same is true of many a divorce.
So, is it a relationship in which case he has a commitment to the woman, or is she his whore, in which case there is none.
That's a mighty big "but," Sister. The worst thing about Fr. Cutie's carryings-on is that it arouses the prurient interest of those who may not have the best interests of Holy Mother Church in mind.
I vote for the monastery in the mountains. Bring him back for public penance in a year or two. This is the Roman Catholic Church, so it oughta be handled the way they might handle it in Rome. Drastic Punishment. But Diplomacy. Tact. No Scandal. No Need to Inflame the Passions of the Lower Classes.
...divorcee ... well, coulda been a married woman,
priestly advice on TV, well at least he may have known something of the subject
And please look at the bright side: coulda been Perez Hilton, Barney Frank and 5 naked acolytes on that beach!
Quoting pious poetry about "a priest committing adultery against the Bride of Christ" is an insult to the heterosexual men who are priests. That line would fit better in a soap opera or on "The View".
How is unfaithfulness to their vow to the Church any kind of insult against priests?
Perfect and Perpetual. As they have done for lo, these two thousand years? Cleric and lay alike, we are all engaged in the quest for perfection. Its attainment is another story.
In regard to celibacy, chastity, or as you and Canon Law so delicately put it, "continence," check out Willa Cather's "Death Comes to the Archbishop," or Morris West's "Shoes of the Fisherman." Maintaining this discipline is a constant struggle for the Church, and sometimes the results are rather better than at other times.
That's one of the reasons there was a Reformation, and a Counter-Reformation. Work in progress, and all that. The sad tale of Father Cutie, IMHO, pales in comparison the story of the clerical monsters guilty of the (homo)sexual abuse of children. It especially pales in comparison to the knowing connivance of the unclean bishops who took part in the cover up of this world wide scandal.
I hope and pray Father Cutie takes his punishment like a man and comes back a better priest, and a better man, as have erring priests over the past centuries before him.
Perfect and Perpetual. As they have done for lo, these two thousand years? Cleric and lay alike, we are all engaged in the quest for perfection. Its attainment is another story.
In regard to celibacy, chastity, or as you and Canon Law so delicately put it, "continence," check out Willa Cather's "Death Comes to the Archbishop," or Morris West's "Shoes of the Fisherman." Maintaining this discipline is a constant struggle for the Church, and sometimes the results are rather better than at other times.
That's one of the reasons there was a Reformation, and a Counter-Reformation. Work in progress, and all that. The sad tale of Father Cutie, IMHO, pales in comparison the story of the clerical monsters guilty of the (homo)sexual abuse of children. It especially pales in comparison to the knowing connivance of the unclean bishops who took part in the cover up of this world wide scandal.
I hope and pray Father Cutie takes his punishment like a man and comes back a better priest, and a better man, as have erring priests over the past centuries before him.
Perfect and Perpetual. As they have done for lo, these two thousand years? Cleric and lay alike, we are all engaged in the quest for perfection. Its attainment is another story.
In regard to celibacy, chastity, or as you and Canon Law so delicately put it, "continence," check out Willa Cather's "Death Comes to the Archbishop," or Morris West's "Shoes of the Fisherman." Maintaining this discipline is a constant struggle for the Church, and sometimes the results are rather better than at other times.
That's one of the reasons there was a Reformation, and a Counter-Reformation. Work in progress, and all that. The sad tale of Father Cutie, IMHO, pales in comparison the story of the clerical monsters guilty of the (homo)sexual abuse of children. It especially pales in comparison to the knowing connivance of the unclean bishops who took part in the cover up of this world wide scandal.
I hope and pray Father Cutie takes his punishment like a man and comes back a better priest, and a better man, as have erring priests over the past centuries before him.
he admitted sex with her. what he needs to do is shut his yap, go into seclusion to sort out his immortal soul and stop with the telenovela that is playing out in the media, which serves no useful purpose to his soul, or the Church.
What or who?
Firstly, celibacy is indeed a vow. A priest takes a vow of celibacy, poverty and obedience. A priest wears a cincture as a reminder of his vow of chastity. Secondly, in dioceses where truth is being taught and orthodoxy is being practiced the Churches are going strong and priestly vocations is growing.
Also, this argument and many like it have been refuted on this thread -> 5 Arguments Against Priestly Celibacy and How to Refute Them
A married clergy would create a larger pool of healthy priestly candidates, solving the current priest shortage.
There are actually plenty of vocations today in faithful dioceses: Denver, Northern Virginia, and Lincoln, Nebraska, have great numbers of men entering the priesthood. If other dioceses, such as Milwaukee, want to answer the question of why they have so few vocations, the answer is simple: Challenge young men to a religious life that is demanding, countercultural, sacrificial, and loyal to the Holy Father and Catholic teaching. This is the surest way to guarantee a greater number of vocations.
Quoting pious poetry about "a priest committing adultery against the Bride of Christ" is an insult to the heterosexual men who are priests. That line would fit better in a soap opera or on "The View".
In what way is what I wrote an insult to a celibate priest?
So there’s nothing good in him, his life meant nothing?
If someone died in your care while being fed jello, would your life and mercy in hospice care been for nothing?
This is a teaching moment. There is sin in the world along with free will... and there is grace and forgiveness.
From your keyboard to God's ear.
I didn’t say kill him.
Good post. Thanks for the link!
When for many reasons which would be good discussion items, the priest no longer "believes" in the effectiveness of celibacy either for himself or for his service to the Church, there arise an integrity problem. He continues to believe in service, but celibacy as a control mechanism or as a source of scandal because it is not observed, loses its value. The service of many dedicated married Protestant clergy is as great if not greater than that of the priest ( They usually do not spend as much time on the golf course, however).
For those who know not the life of the priest, to quote canon law, tell them they are unfaithful, thump the bible at them is treating the priests as though they were disobedient children rather than adult men.
Since you posted the same thing three times, I guess I should answer.
Priestly celibacy is a discipline not dogma. Is it a good idea? I don’t know, I couldn’t live that way. Recently, an elderly priest at my parish included a plea for marriage, but I think the vast majority of priests support the current status.
No matter, that is the vow he took. When he found that he could no longer keep it, he should have gone to his superior. Getting caught on the beach is just tacky. In addition, this is a two year relationship. It’s not like he got drunk and woke up in a whorehouse. I think he should now find a new way to serve the church. Raising some catholic children would certainly be one way.
Having him back as a priest would be like rehiring a bookkeeper after you caught him embezzling.
When do they start taping the next season of “The Surreal Life”?
Please show me where God says priests can't like women.
A lot of them like boys, is that better?
That' s been known to happen ... at least he might tell where he stashed the swag!!
In re multiple postings Repititio Mater Scientiae and wish me luck in mastering the MAC, which I am finding rather less adept at handling FR than my PC.
Now the Father Cutié deal: this fellow needs to take a long hike in the Pyrenees. A two-year hike from one monastery to another. Then, he also oughta grow a beard to cover that smirking cutie-pie face. Take him off TV. Perhaps my years of work in the blasé home of Roman Catholicism have made me un-puritanical, but to me, this is no big deal ... a garden-variety clerical fornicatory arrangement. Time for everyone to go to confession and go home. Sack cloth. Ashes. Basta.
Padre Cutié done the crime. The church has many ways for him to do the time. They do not include Oprah appearances or a movie, hai capito?
Btw if you’re a Catholic (which I seriously doubt) and you don’t approve of the iterpretrated doctrine become and Episcopalian. If not than STFU.
Do you mean "then"?
Are all of your sect as illiterate as you are?
I think not, you must be especially ignorant.
Do you perhaps lack education?
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