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Priest who broke celibacy vow joins Episcopal Church
CNN.com ^ | 05/27/09 | Staff

Posted on 05/28/2009 5:09:04 PM PDT by Big_Monkey

(CNN) -- Father Alberto Cutie, an internationally known Catholic priest who admitted having a romantic affair and breaking his vow of celibacy, is joining the Episcopal Church to be with the woman he loves, he said Thursday.

"I will always love the Catholic Church and all its members," he said at a news conference. "But I want to start today by going into a new family.

"Here before this community where I have chosen to serve and where I live, I am going to continue to proclaim the word of God and my love for God," Cutie said.

Cutie (pronounced koo-tee-AY) was received into the Episcopal Church earlier Thursday at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Miami, Florida. He will pursue the priesthood in the Episcopalian faith, the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida said in a written statement.

It was not immediately clear how long the process would take.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Mainline Protestant; Moral Issues
KEYWORDS: catholic; cino; episcopal; latino; priests
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I'm sure this will be followed by another chorus from the MSM about the necessity of the Church to break it's celibacy requirement. Aggravating
1 posted on 05/28/2009 5:09:05 PM PDT by Big_Monkey
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To: Big_Monkey

Hm...why does CNN....or anyone else outside the church....care?


2 posted on 05/28/2009 5:10:57 PM PDT by Psycho_Bunny (ALSO SPRACH ZEROTHUSTRA)
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To: Big_Monkey

Never trust a man who breaks his vows, and is unrepentant.

Even though celibacy *requirements* for priests is not something I subscribe to.

And really? You go from the Catholic Church to the Episcopal Church? That’s almost worse than becoming an atheist!


3 posted on 05/28/2009 5:12:10 PM PDT by rom (Obama '12 slogan: Let's keep on hopin'!)
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To: Big_Monkey

I’m losing whatever respect I had for the Episcopal Church.

They certainly can accept whoever they like as a member, but it just seems improper for them to accept Cutie as a member so soon as the scandal only broke on May 5.


4 posted on 05/28/2009 5:19:00 PM PDT by I_Like_Spam
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To: Big_Monkey

One of the things Fr. Alberto said was “I want to serve God and have a family.” Is being a priest the only way to serve God? Hardly. Being a husbad and father is a vocation. If that’s not enough, he could be a deacon.

He threw the baby out with the bathwater on this. And he’s joined the pro-gay church.

Sad.


5 posted on 05/28/2009 5:22:30 PM PDT by al_c (Avoid the consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity)
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To: rom
Never trust a man who breaks his vows and is unrepentant.

You mean like that Dominican Friar named Marting Luther?

Let's see:

vow of poverty - check

vow of chastity - check

vow of obedience - check

6 posted on 05/28/2009 5:26:55 PM PDT by PanzerKardinal
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To: PanzerKardinal

If this priest had some theological reasons for leaving, I’d like to hear them. Instead, his only excuse was that he wants to love a woman.

And then become an Episcopal.


7 posted on 05/28/2009 5:30:08 PM PDT by rom (Obama '12 slogan: Let's keep on hopin'!)
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To: al_c
"Hardly. Being a husband and father is a vocation. If that’s not enough, he could be a deacon.

This happened to one of my old parish Priests a while back. He had an affair with a woman he married (performed the sacrament) no less.

I don't know if the same was true for Cutie, but I believe the Church made it clear to my former priest that he was persona non grata. He ended up in the Lutheran church, IIRC.

You're spot on about the Episcopal church (no offense to my Episcopal FR colleagues. From reading the article, I got the feeling that the move to the Episcopal church was purely a move born of convenience and not theological conviction.

8 posted on 05/28/2009 5:30:29 PM PDT by Big_Monkey
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To: PanzerKardinal

Plus this character only left when he was found out. Just wanted to add that.

But of course you seem so bitter :-)


9 posted on 05/28/2009 5:32:25 PM PDT by rom (Obama '12 slogan: Let's keep on hopin'!)
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To: Big_Monkey

I’m certain the Episcopal church is the place for this guy. You don’t have to worry about violating your church’s convictions if it doesn’t have any convictions. Beside, this can be a nice little segue into his next move; leaving his new woman for a man.


10 posted on 05/28/2009 5:44:28 PM PDT by mcswan
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To: I_Like_Spam
I am an Episcopalian and about as right wing as folks come. I do not subscribe to the gay bishop stuff one bit, but Rev. Cutie should be welcomed into the Anglican community. As someone else here has pointed out, the founder of the Protestant branch of Christianity was more radical than Rev. Cutie.

I admire Cutie for shooting much higher than I do. It would have never occurred to me to make any effort to forgo sex for life. From where I stand, to condemn Cutie because he tried, but did not make it is similar to my dumb ass giving some guy hell who started out majoring in quantum physics and then decided that he cannot do it, but settles for a degree in math or a lower form of physics, or something equally difficult for his failure to make it in one of the most difficult majors available.

There is a lot of legitimate criticism to be heaped on the American Episcopal Church, but this ain't part of it.

11 posted on 05/28/2009 5:49:21 PM PDT by Tom D. (Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. - Benj. Franklin)
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To: I_Like_Spam

Remember Governor McGreavey? Put an Israeli national as head of the New Jersey Department of Homeland Security just so he could sexually harass him? He became a Catholic priest, too. Or how about that crazy oceanographer who lost her religion? They made her head of the whole American church, after being Episcopalian for a few short years... a couple years in seminary, than it was straight to bishop of Las Vegas, then she’s running the whole national church!


12 posted on 05/28/2009 5:50:27 PM PDT by dangus
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To: Big_Monkey
Was a Catholic became Prot when inconvenient.

Well now that he's a “preacher” he can do Elvis weddings in Vegas.

Seems to me a twofer.

13 posted on 05/28/2009 5:54:23 PM PDT by Mikey_1962 (Obama: The Affirmative Action President)
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To: Big_Monkey

This is not an act of love, but of vanity. Were it an act of love, he could have stepped down from the Priesthood, with respect, and taken any number of offices that do not require celibacy. The Church is very generous in appointments to those who discover that they don’t have what it takes to be a Priest.

But he likes being in the spotlight, a creature of vanity. As such he will be welcomed into the Episcopalian church, who admire and uplift such egocentrics.


14 posted on 05/28/2009 5:57:17 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: Tom D.

If he truly couldn’t hack it as a celibate priest, he should have presented himself to his bishop for laicization. There are some excellent men I know who have done that, some of whom have been prominent leaders of the church outside the hierarchy, like the Lynn brother who married Shiela Fabricant. (Yes, they’re touchy-feely, but they’re still very good.) Rev. Cutie’ broke his vows, and continued to lead a life of lies until he was exposed. Candidates for the priesthood should be men of highest moral character, not rejects from other faiths. And if he ever was Catholic inside, he should know precisely the grave moral danger his soul is now in.

Incidentally, my wife is a former Episcopalian, once invited to become a priest, who left that Church because she was fed up with the way they revel in evil-doers. She is disgusted by Cutie’


15 posted on 05/28/2009 6:00:45 PM PDT by dangus
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To: PanzerKardinal

whoa whoa whoa.....Luther was an Augusitinian. You owe an apology to all Dominicans out there.

As to Cutie, don’t let the door hitya on the way out. We’re better off with out you.


16 posted on 05/28/2009 6:01:35 PM PDT by mockingbyrd (Dick Cheney gets results!)
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To: dangus; I_Like_Spam

YIKES! I’m sure you realize I meant McGreevey became an Episcopalian priest.


17 posted on 05/28/2009 6:01:55 PM PDT by dangus
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To: al_c

If he marries the lover, he may be too conservative for the Episcopalians.
But what is almost Catholic and still conservative?


18 posted on 05/28/2009 6:07:55 PM PDT by tbw2 (Freeper sci-fi - "Humanity's Edge" - on amazon.com)
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To: Big_Monkey
something about the Spirit is willing, but...
19 posted on 05/28/2009 6:32:28 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - Obama is basically Jim Jones with a teleprompter)
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To: mockingbyrd

Why all the Smack-talk about Martin Luther?


20 posted on 05/28/2009 6:43:26 PM PDT by aliquando (A Scout is T, L, H, F, C, K, O, C, T, B, C, and R.)
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