"Father Oprah" Joins Episcopal Church

(AP)  A popular priest known as "Father Oprah" has left the Roman Catholic Church and joined the Episcopal Church less than a month after a tabloid published photos of him cavorting on the beach with his girlfriend in a scandal that rocked South Florida's Spanish-speaking community.

On Thursday, as thunder boomed outside and paparazzi cameras flashed, the Rev. Alberto Cutie held a news conference at the pulpit of the Episcopal Church's Trinity Cathedral. Standing behind him: the Episcopal bishop, a half-dozen Episcopal priests and his girlfriend.

He did not talk about his relationship with the woman, who has been identified in local media as 35-year-old divorcee Ruhama Buni Canellis, or if he has plans to marry her. He did say in a statement that he "began to have spiritual and deep ideological struggles" and "has seen the ways that many of my brothers serve God as married men, with the blessing of forming a family."

Cutie was removed from his Miami Beach Catholic church after photos of him smooching and embracing a woman appeared in the pages of a Spanish-language magazine earlier this month. With his leading man good looks, appearances in local newspapers' social pages and as the host of a TV show, Cutie is one of South Florida's most recognizable characters.

Cutie is scheduled to deliver a sermon this Sunday at his new church, which received him in a ceremony Thursday, but must complete other requirements before serving as an Episcopal priest.

The Episcopal Church allows its priests to marry and date. The Catholic Church requires them to be celibate.

Cutie thanked supporters and asked the media to respect his privacy. He said his decision did not come quickly.

"I have searched my soul and sought God's guidance for a long time," he said.

He said his struggle "should in no way tarnish the commitment of so many brother priests who are celibate and faithful to their promise."

That struggle was news to Archbishop John Favalora, who said he met with Cutie on May 5, after the photos were published, and that the priest didn't indicate he was wrestling with such thoughts. In a statement, he admonished the 40-year-old Cutie and Episcopal leaders in Miami.

"He has never told me that he was considering joining the Episcopal Church," Favalora said. "(The Episcopal Bishop) has never spoken to me about his position on this delicate matter or what actions he was contemplating. This truly is a serious setback for ecumenical relations and cooperation between us."

Added Favalora: "It's unsettling to the faith, that's why it's a scandal. But the church has been through scandals before - the church will survive."

Cutie headed the archdiocese's Radio Paz and Radio Peace broadcasts, heard throughout the Americas and in Spain, and earned the nickname "Father Oprah" for his relationship advice. Since the scandal broke, bloggers have commented on his "dreamy" blue eyes.

The Cuban-American priest was born in Puerto Rico and previously hosted shows on Telemundo, the second-largest Spanish-language network in the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere. He is also a syndicated Spanish-language columnist and author of the book "Real Life, Real Love: 7 Paths to a Strong, Lasting Relationship."

Earlier this month, Cutie told CBS he has been romantically involved with the woman in the photos for about two years after being friends for much longer.

"I believe that I've fallen in love and I believe that I've struggled with that, between my love for God, and my love for the church and my love for service," Cutie said. Cutie maintains that he supports the Catholic Church's stand that priests should be celibate and does not want to become the "anti-celibacy priest."

After the scandal, more than 100 people gathered outside Cutie's former parish in Miami Beach, waving posters and chanting their forgiveness of the popular cleric. On Thursday, news of Cutie's religious switch inundated Spanish-language talk radio.

Cutie, during his brief statement to the media on Thursday, said he was "humbled" by the tsunami of support. His girlfriend - dressed in a gray suit and pink lipstick - said nothing. When Cutie was finished speaking, a TV reporter shouted in Spanish, "Father Alberto, we are live," and Cutie, and the woman, smiled and walked away from the pulpit.

[armyoftwelve]

Celibacy is a form of abuse, which makes it all the more appropriate that it is a Catholic tradition. By the way, Father Alberto would be welcome anytime in the Orthodox Church.
Posted by goffredo29 at 9:08 AM : May 29, 2009

In an Eastern Orthodox church, a married man might get ordained but a single ordained man will never be married. Get your facts straight, celibacy is more Orthodox than you know.

[armyoftwelve]

I gather that you have some hostility towards the Episcopal Church -
Posted by differnet at 8:19 PM : May 29, 2009

You know, I don't recall reading that Jesus Christ hoped his flock would be shattered into dozens of different denomination....Are you implying that God is working through "you"
to the exclusion of the Catholic Church?

As I recall, the English "reformation" meant utter hell for English Catholics---not to mention the suppression of the Catholic Church in Ireland. My wife is a French Catholic from New England, would you like to hear about the institutioanlized bigotry that French and Irish Catholics had to face from the Congregationalists, Methodists and Baptists?
How about the deportation of ALL the French Catholic inhabitants from Nova Scotia that was driven SOLELY by New England protestants??
How about the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States? Ever notice that it only had PROTESTANT members from the denominations that you mentioned (especially here in New England). Maybe you should think about that before whining about the Medici popes.

An open mind is like an open mouth--you can fill it with anything, even if it is crap.

By the way, the unitarian church has long since abandoned any pretext of being a Christian denomiation. Is that the future for the Englilsh church??

[babooph]

What church would a guy who orders torture & war crimes switch to ?

[differnet]

armyoftwelve and JackSteen12, I gather that you have some hostility towards the Episcopal Church - or perhaps any church other than your own. Henry the 8th's divorce was only the final catalyst that broke England from Rome. Lutherism and decent had long been brewing in England, based upon the corruption of the Medici Popes. But even if it was the divorce, I believe that God works through us. Because of the English break, besides Anglicanism, we know have Congregationalism, Methodism, the Unitarian, New England Baptists and several other denominations. Free thinking is something that the Episcopal Church not only embraces, but encourages. Best of luck in your walk with God.

[armyoftwelve]

As a lifelong Episcopal, I welcome to our denomination
Posted by differnet at 9:32 AM : May 29, 2009

You know it funny, there are a couple of hundred Catholic priests who joined the English
church because the wanted to get married or wanted something else....

But there are four or five dozen former Episcopal priests who joined the Catholic Church
(despite the pay cut) because they came to the realization that the English church has gone completely off the rails.....I mean, even more than it had 500 years ago to facilitate Henry VIII's divorce.

[armyoftwelve]

Falling in love is great....
Falling in love after VOLUNTARILY becoming celibate is okay....

Practicing lies and deceit, especially towards your bishop is not good....
Leaving the Church for some other group is TOTALLY WRONG!

We don't need child abusers who break their vows...
We don't need slick loverboys who break their vows....

Sorry you had a change of heart Mr. Cutie but
GOOD RIDDANCE!

[wvfemina]

I am a life-long Catholic and three years after I graduated from college, I married a priest. He went through a tremendous prayer and thought process to make his decision. We did not use the media to make our point and we did not go to the beach! we moved from our hometown and relocated to avoid scandal for our families....... and was more of a priest as a married man than as a celibate. Read about it in Life with "Father", one man's journey into life and love. Celibacy should be optional.

[differnet]

PS. I will be very disturbed if people join the Episcopal Church just because they are following Father Cutie. Choosing to change denomination should be part of a spiritual journey and not simply based on a celebrity. Reading the comments here are quite frightening. On a journey in faith, we will all stumble and fall now and then. Father Cutie is simply a man and he has stumbled. True faith is getting back up and trying again to find a communion with God, even after we have shown our feet of clay.

[differnet]

As a lifelong Episcopal, I welcome to our denomination. I wish he had joined before he had broken his vows to the Catholic Church. However, we all fall short of the glory of God. He's human. I suspect her will find the Episcopal Chuch's rite of penitence different, since one must try to repair the harm they have done. I hope he finds the service within our denomination fulfilling.

[goffredo29]

Celibacy is a form of abuse, which makes it all the more appropriate that it is a Catholic tradition. By the way, Father Alberto would be welcome anytime in the Orthodox Church.