Latin American Herald Tribune
May 7, 2009
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=334017&CategoryId=12395
MIAMI – The case of the Rev. Alberto Cutie, who lost his parish after being photographed in the arms of a woman, has revived the debate on celibacy in the Catholic Church in the Hispanic media and U.S. Internet forums.
With the slogan "Estamos con el Padre Alberto Cutie" (We're with Father Alberto Cutie), Giancarlo Sopo, of the blog Generacion Miami, has begun a signature collection campaign to ask the Miami Archdiocese to "restore his rights as a priest."
"Father Alberto has a long history of service in our community and his parishioners must not be unaware of that because he did what millions of men in the world do every day: loved a woman and showed affection to her," Sopo said Wednesday in his blog.
Opinions like that one are being heard on radio programs or are being put on Internet forums since Tuesday, when the scandal broke involving Cutie, who is famous for both his good looks and his numerous appearances on radio and television.
The Mexican gossip magazine TVnotas published eight pages containing 25 photos of the priest kissing and caressing a bikini-clad woman on a Miami beach.
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The publication said that its photographers had captured Cutie on three occasions with the woman.
The priest issued a public apology, but the Miami Archdiocese repudiated his conduct and announced that he was being ousted as pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church in Miami Beach and dropped him from the lineup at church-owned Radio Paz.
On Wednesday, in a Facebook forum, a woman who said she was Catholic asked: "Who are we to judge Father Alberto? You will be measured with the same yardstick you measure with."
Another woman, Juana Jimenez, also Catholic, told Efe that the priest "has done marvelous work and very good (things)" and she added that she did not believe that he should have been condemned for what happened.
"The Church has to rethink the issue of celibacy, since it's no longer justified at the present time," Jimenez said.
Another Hispanic man commented on Union Radio Miami that "Father Alberto is human. He's a man and he had a weakness. It's logical. Who doesn't have it?"
"I don't see anything bad in that he has a girlfriend and even for priests to marry. In that way, abuse of children and other people would be avoided. The fact that he's a priest is not going to take away the desire to be with a woman," said a man in a Univision television network forum.
In his request for forgiveness from those "who may be hurt or saddened by my actions" and the scandal, Cutie noted that God is "full of love and mercy" and he thanked his supporters for the expressions of support he had received.
Since 1998, Cutie has appeared on Hispanic communications media in the United States on a number of programs including the "Padre Alberto" talk show, and currently he directs "Abre tu alma con el Padre Alberto" (Open your soul with Father Alberto) on a Miami television station.
He also published the column "Consejos de amigos" (Advice from friends) in several U.S. Hispanic dailies and published a self-help book in 2006 entitled "Ama de verdad, vive de verdad" (Real life, real love).
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