Fla.'s 'Father Oprah' joins Episcopal Church

[bobzills]

Only God can judge

Yes.

 

[Tonks40]

I know Father (Mr.) Cutie personally. When he found out my son had died and I had buried him in my back yard, he knew I had no money. He paid for a coffin out of his own pocket. He personlly arranged for my son to be buried on holy ground in a Catholic cemetary. My daughters know and love him dearly. I love him…
I am in tears. My heart feels as if it will simply implode with the agony of watching the havoc, the sheer magnitude of scandal that has been caused, of which this thread is a mere microcosm. I do not yet know how to tell my children of this. My youngest, I fear, will cry for days…She will not understand…I don’t understand. I am angry. I am hurt. I want to go to see him and tell him what pain has been caused. I feel the pain of great loss, as if a loved one in my family has deserted us…

Maybe you should go and let him know how you feel.

May our Mother Mary comfort your soul through her Son.

God Bless you. :console:

 

[bobzills]

I know Father (Mr.) Cutie personally. When he found out my son had died and I had buried him in my back yard, he knew I had no money. He paid for a coffin out of his own pocket. He personlly arranged for my son to be buried on holy ground in a Catholic cemetary. My daughters know and love him dearly. I love him…
I am in tears. My heart feels as if it will simply implode with the agony of watching the havoc, the sheer magnitude of scandal that has been caused, of which this thread is a mere microcosm. I do not yet know how to tell my children of this. My youngest, I fear, will cry for days…She will not understand…I don’t understand. I am angry. I am hurt. I want to go to see him and tell him what pain has been caused. I feel the pain of great loss, as if a loved one in my family has deserted us…

From your description, it appears that Father Cutie is a good person. Many good people have struggled and felt conflict with problems in life similar to what he is facing.

 

[bobzills]

Son of Monica

As the Original Son of St. Monica, St. Augustine of Hippo wrote 1,600 years ago, “Once a priest, always a priest.” The mark is INDELIBLE. There is no act of man nor God’s that can remove it once it is applied (That includes Papal Dispensations). That is the Constant Teaching of the Catholic Church from the time of the Apostles.

I personally know an adulterous priest who joined a cult and left his post whom I still call Father in my emails and other communications.

Fr. Alberto left his post and committed adultery, but he’s still a priest. and, According to the Law of the Church, he is required to perform the Sacraments of the Church (Hear Confessions, Anoint the Dying, Confect the Eucharist) in emergencies when NO other priests are available…

Your Brother in Christ, Michael

Just a few comments:

1. I am not sure if the confession would be valid from the Roman Catholic standpoint, although the Holy Communion would be valid, but illicit from the RC viewpoint.
2. What do most Anglicans such as yourself feel about the RC positon on the validity of your Sacraments? As you know, the RCC accepts the Baptism, but not the other Sacraments of the Anglican community.

 

[LilyM]

google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gWChQs2DEfnJ1ux-A74AeBuI0idwD98FDF081

How very sad. Makes me wonder if he ever believed in the Real Presence at all.

All those who thought he was a “good priest” - and he obviously never believed what he professed. How sad for them as well.

~Liza

You think St Peter never believed the things that he professed? Of course he believed, he just stumbled sometimes when it came to the crunch, being human and all. After Pentecost as well as before (hence Paul’s rebuke).

‘The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’ as Jesus said. The man needs prayers for repentance, condemnation is unlikely to do any good for his soul or yours.

 

[Holly3278]

Disgusting and how very sad! I hope he realizes just how much scandal he has brought upon the one true Church by doing this.

 

[Adonis33]

I know Father (Mr.) Cutie personally. When he found out my son had died and I had buried him in my back yard, he knew I had no money. He paid for a coffin out of his own pocket. He personlly arranged for my son to be buried on holy ground in a Catholic cemetary. My daughters know and love him dearly. I love him…
I am in tears. My heart feels as if it will simply implode with the agony of watching the havoc, the sheer magnitude of scandal that has been caused, of which this thread is a mere microcosm. I do not yet know how to tell my children of this. My youngest, I fear, will cry for days…She will not understand…I don’t understand. I am angry. I am hurt. I want to go to see him and tell him what pain has been caused. I feel the pain of great loss, as if a loved one in my family has deserted us…

How incredibly sad. I know how you feel. I have had an extremely close family member leave the faith. It was a cousin, who was partly responsible for my conversion. It was hard, but I kept telling myself “His decision, I can’t let this affect my faith”. But it really hurt for a while.

I will pray for you.

 

[AKG]

The opening part of an article from MSNBC today:

MIAMI - A popular Miami priest and media personality known as “Father Oprah” has left the Catholic Church to become an Anglican after he was photographed cavorting on the beach with his girlfriend.

The Rev. Alberto Cutié was removed from his Miami Beach church after photos of him kissing and embracing a woman appeared in the pages of a Spanish-language magazine earlier this month.

He was received into the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, in a ceremony Thursday at Trinity Cathedral and may later announce he will marry his girlfriend, which is allowed in that denomination. He must complete other requirements before serving as an Episcopal priest.

Two words: “Father Oprah.” That about says it all, doesn’t it?

And, no, he’s not some horrible person because he could not joyfully abide by the rule of celibacy. Obviously he has not turned his back on God, for he still wants to use the talents and abilities he has been given to serve God in some way. One would have hoped he had actually understood and appreciated more what makes Roman Catholic priesthood quite distinct from Episcopalian priesthood.

A big problem for us today is that we (including many clergy) don’t encourage (and properly screen) young men to examine priesthood as a vocation. Sure, we give lip service to this, especially in the prayers of the faithful, but more needs to be done on parish and diocesan levels. And I believe this must be addressed before any move to make celibacy an optional lifestyle choice.

 

[empacae]

What gets me is the media circuit he’s now on, and all the pretty news people asking the question. Should the Catholic Church change to allow priests to marry… blah blah blah! Posing that we are still in some sort of dark ages unable or unwilling to change with the times. Just another example of how the new Rome (aka the American empire) is preverbially thowing us to the lions. I love it, because as much as ‘they’ lob their attacks at us, it is them holding us to a higher standard.

emp

 

[pmoo]

Sometimes I think we put our priests and clergy on pedestals and believe that they have their spiritual, mental, and emotional lives in complete order. We forget that they are human and are tempted by the same vices that any lay person faces.

I know a priest who struggled with alcoholism. This particular priest inspired me to re-examine my Catholic faith and become more than just a person who is Catholic for one-hour a week on Sunday morning. He gave inspiring homilies and led some outstanding classes to help adults better understand and learn about their faith. When the announcement was made that he was stepping aside as pastor of my church in order to seek treatment, it came as a complete shock to me.

I’m not saying that what Father Cutie has done is right, I’m just saying that wearing a white collar doesn’t give a person super powers that make them invincible against the devil.

You are absolutely right. However, Fr. Cutie did not step aside and announce he had struggles to pray about. He only announced this after being photographed and had he not been caught, he would still be ‘struggling’ and living that lie. He only apologized (not even sure he did that) after he was caught.

 

[SonofMonica]

What do most Anglicans such as yourself feel about the RC positon on the validity of your Sacraments? As you know, the RCC accepts the Baptism, but not the other Sacraments of the Anglican community.

During my stint as a high-church anglo-catholic Episcopalian, it seemed as though the issue was one of authority. The basic view was that RC, Orthodox, and Anglicans were the three groups that had apostolic succession, but that since Rome had no authority over the Anglican Communion, who was Rome to say that our priests had no ability to confect the Eucharist? Basically, in my anglo-catholic parish, it was said that we stuck to the faith of the early undivided church, and that the splits that went on after that were political. Those who took a non-catholic position on the sacraments (i.e., against transubstantiation) within the Episcopal Church were simply wrong, because we claimed that the faith was never meant to be changed at the reformation, only the power structure. We proclaimed the seven sacraments, but in reality practiced only two.

 

[turtle18]

Look there are plenty of things both parties could have done to avoid this situation. She could have joined another parish–it’s not as if he had the only parish in the city of Miami. He could have asked for a transfer away from her. You CAN control your feelings–and even if you can’t—then you don’t have to ACT on them.

Of course he has to leave the Church. She is divorced and unless she has had an annullment, she is not eligible to be remarried in the Catholic Church. So even if they laicized him, they still wouldn’t have been able to be married in the Church.

But I think the biggest problem here is how he publicizes it all–no repentance or humility for him. He feels the need to hold a press conference, with her at his side, and announce his “switch.” If she is so faithful to the Catholic church (yeah, the main reason he said he was attracted to her to begin with), how come she is not upset about leaving it? It’s just so convenient for both of them. But they are lying to themselves. There is only so long you can live with a lie–sometimes it can be a very long time 10 or 20 years.

 

[redrosetea]

Look there are plenty of things both parties could have done to avoid this situation. She could have joined another parish–it’s not as if he had the only parish in the city of Miami. He could have asked for a transfer away from her. You CAN control your feelings–and even if you can’t—then you don’t have to ACT on them.

Of course he has to leave the Church. She is divorced and unless she has had an annullment, she is not eligible to be remarried in the Catholic Church. So even if they laicized him, they still wouldn’t have been able to be married in the Church.

But I think the biggest problem here is how he publicizes it all–no repentance or humility for him. He feels the need to hold a press conference, with her at his side, and announce his “switch.” If she is so faithful to the Catholic church (yeah, the main reason he said he was attracted to her to begin with), how come she is not upset about leaving it? It’s just so convenient for both of them. But they are lying to themselves. There is only so long you can live with a lie–sometimes it can be a very long time 10 or 20 years./QUOTaint

Aint it the truth! It also looks like the Episcopal church is trying to get all the publicity it can from this…I suspect they are hoping Catholics will jump ship…

I also fear we haven’t heard the last from FR Cutie, and well may see him on the talk show circuit…He seems to be altogether too full of himself and proud of his actions

Frankly having seen his finance at his side I saw no remorse at all for the damage they have done, nor shame that they were doing things on a public beach that could have gotten them arrested for lewd acts

 

[7_Sorrows]

God does not call His priests to leave the Catholic Church, shack up with women, give in to carnal lust, and celebrate sacrilegious masses while in a state of sin.

Doesn’t do that. Devil calls them to do that. Satan. Big difference.

i choose not to cast stones. how do you know what God’s will is?

 

[AlisaNick]

The news of Father Cutie leaving the Catholic Church yesterday really really saddened me. I don’t understand how a person, especially a priest, can give up their church that easily. I also cannot believe this news affected me in this way. This is on my mind for the last 24 hrs. I am so confused and so sad.

 

[7_Sorrows]

Well, I hate to say it, but the Protestant churches have been our trash receptacle for 400 years now. I’m grateful that the Church can remain pure in its teachings, even when men who claim to be of God are incapable of remaining pure… It’s a shame for the good and solid Christians in the Protestant churches, that they have to take our weakest members and we get their strongest as converts, but there it is.

gee, was there this much outrage during the priest sex abuse scandals? so much self-righteousness by posters. i am a recent convert to Catholicism. after reading this thread, i am wondering if i made a mistake. father cutie is human and he is a man. i think he is being honest with himself. evidently, this is something he has struggled with.
this is between father cutie and God.
the Protestant churches have been our trash receptacle for 400 years? i will remember this quote for the rest of my life. what arrogance!

 

[JKirkLVNV]

i choose not to cast stones. how do you know what God’s will is?

Church teachings on faith and morals can never be at odds with God’s Will, as per Christ’s promise to Peter and to the Apostles. The Church teaches that those who leave her, knowing her to be necessary to salvation, have no hope of salvation. Check out the catechism.

 

[7_Sorrows]

Church teachings on faith and morals can never be at odds with God’s Will, as per Christ’s promise to Peter and to the Apostles. The Church teaches that those who leave her, knowing her to be necessary to salvation, have no hope of salvation. Check out the catechism.

are you worshipping the Church or Christ?

 

[adowcday]

Ever since I heard him go against church teaching and say in an interview that science is proving that homosexuality is genetic I knew he was a liberal wolf in shepard’s clothing.

So, only a LIBERAL priest could have problems with celibacy and enter into a sexual relationship with a divorced woman while still a priest. The fact is that Fr. Cutie was conservative, not a liberal. He just suffered from the same problem that plagues many famous men (including conservative Catholic men): he had difficulty with chastity.

What riles me about this is that the only reason why this affair came to light was that he was exposed by a photographer. He had been “romantically” involved with this woman for at least two years and friends for several more years, but he continued in his very public roles as a radio and TV personality (including EWTN) during that time. Apparently his bishop found out out when the rest of us did: when the photos were published. He should have informed his bishop and withdrawn from his very public roles while sorting his decision whether to remain a priest or marry in order to limit the scandal to the Church. Instead, he opted to remain a celebrity.

By the way, according to the news reports, the woman with whom Fr. Cutie was involved – now his fiancee, it seems – is a 35-year-old divorcee. Another good reason for Cutie to join the Episcopal Church, where divorce and remarriage area accepted.

news.aol.com/article/father-oprah-episcopal/474500?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Ffather-oprah-episcopal%2F474500

 

[JKirkLVNV]

are you worshipping the Church or Christ?

What precisely do you mean? If you are a Catholic, you should have access to the *Catechism of the Catholic Church. *Look up what I’ve said and address that.

The Church is the Body of Christ. They are inseperable.