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.
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.
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