Father Cutié's fall prompts celibacy debate

He broke his vow, pure and simple. He is accountable for that, and should be reconciled how every that might be.

But I am sure, we will hear many "he's the victim" posts on this Board. He knew the rules going in, it is that simple.

KLR, I've heard no "victim" talk from anyone about this. The debate is about whether celibacy is a good policy and good doctrine for the church for its priests. Yes, he broke his vow, and how he and church handle that is between them. But his story is a jumping off point for discussion about the issue of celibacy. Not every Catholic -- not every Catholic bishop or priest, in fact -- thinks that celibacy is actually God's plan, and not everyone of them thinks it makes sense.

He broke his vow, and the Catholic Church loses yet another valuable member to the embrace of healthy human nature. In the end, like the Republican Party, there will be a few angry hard-liners taking their rigid, failed philosophies to the grave. Once they're gone, the world will keep turning happily without them, and the Vatican will become a museum. I hope it doesn't happen. I hope the Church wakes up and modernizes, but I doubt they will. It has become an ideological reliquary, whose only remaining power depends on the refusal of an ever-dwindling and backward few to admit the old ideas have no place left in today's world.

Of course you haven't yet on this Board j-len, mine was the 1st and yours was the 2nd post. Be patient...

When you see how the Church has already changed: there are women distributing the Eucharist, there are women reading the Epistles, and there are former Episcopalians who are married, acting as fully ordained priests. According to my grandfather, a Catholic who married an Episcopalian who converted to Catholicism, the Reformation never removed the validity of the English bishops' ability to ordain fully catholic priests anyway. Therefore, for centuries there have been " catholic" priests (in the British Isles) who have been married (though truth be known, lots of them have been gay or celibate). This may come as a shock, but I would think it is one of the reasons that the Episcopalians who convert to Catholicism as priests have such a strong hand in remaining as they wish.

This priest should perhaps apologize for giving scandal, but not for being the sexual being that he is. He should then become an Episcopalian priest and keep doing his thing, married. If the Romans want him back, I am sure an agreement can be reached. It is nothing to castigate him for. It is just a bureaucratic matter within the Church and the laity understand that perfectly.

There is simply something wrong with people who take any world event, and have to throw in yet another dig at the Republicans. Truly mentally wrong.

Yes, that would be you, Sonia.

I feel a new reality tv show coming on.

This is not much different from a person breaking their marriage vows. You make a promise and keep the promise, in good times and bad. What if a married man "falls in love" with another woman? Would we excuse him? No. The priest is "wedded" to the Church, and so he should keep the promise that he made, just like a married person should keep his wedding vows.

The law of celibacy is a discipline, that is true, and technically it can be changed. But the Church needs men and women who will dedicate themselves single-heartedly to Jesus and the Gospel. Celibacy in the Church is a tradition as old as the original apostles. St. Paul wrote about it several times. Celibate priests and religious men and women show by the witness of their lives that the love of God is worth dedicating your life to Him - whether you're a priest, religious, or layperson.

This particular priest can repent and start over again with celibacy. Forgiveness is what the Church is all about. As difficult as it may be, married people do this all the time after they have been unfaithful.

I have two other brief comments to add to my previous one:

1. I watched the CBS video and he seems to be an honorable man who is not hiding from his errors. Nevertheless, he made a vow of celibacy. There are ways for a priest to be released from his vows, but I hope and pray that he doesn't.

2. Message to Sophia: the Church has outlived many cultures and societies, and it will outlive our culture, too. There is much wisdom in the Church, and it doesn't have to change itself to every whim of every passing society. Christ said that the Church will exist until the end of time.

if you really think about it. This isn't really news or important.

Bravo Peter, Bravo.

Allston: it was a dig at the Party, not all Republicans, and in respect to the current struggles of the Republican Party, the parallels are clear. Comparing two struggling conservative organizations who both claim moral authority is hardly a leap, anyway.

Peter: unless you're St. Peter, I'm not sure where your confidence is coming from on this matter, but I certainly hope you're right about the church's survival. It will mean they've woken up again. But organizations survive by adapting to our ever-changing world. The church we have today is nothing like the one it once was, because historically it has done this, and as a result been a vital entity. Once they start doing it again, they will also stop dying. Like I said, I hope it happens. But unless they start trying to find relevance in today's world as a source of comfort to those who need change, rather than the many fewer who fear it, they won't.

He can always become Episcopalian.

Bravo, Alberto Cutie, Bravo

The Catholic Church wants to hold the few "normal" priests to an impossible standard... with no real reason to do so. Now the church is dying because it keeps attracting an inordinate amount of homosexuals and pedophile priests. It would be nice if I could go to church again and not worry about a freak priest..... and just focus on jesus, the bible and community.

Let the catholic church be filled with the spirit and take a long honest look at itself.
Voluntary celibacy, married priests, and a female clergy.
WE could keep churches open and pews filled with this...

The religious "value" of celibacy was invented some centuries ago to front for the real reason the requirement was developed. Some centuries ago, many of the men of the church managed to acquire considerable wealth, and the church wanted to keep the wealth to itself, not lose it to the priests' families. I don't see any other currently valid reason for requiring celibacy. Other people seem to manage to be adequately devoted to their jobs while also having families.

Episcopalian? I thought he was straight?

Sophia - I agree with you that the Church must adapt to society, to a certain extent. But some of the teachings of the Church are unchanging - maybe these unchanging teachings could be explained better, but they're not going to change. Although Celibacy is a discipline and could therefore be made optional, it also has been a long tradition that goes all the way back to Jesus himself and the apostles.

The witness of a celibate priest or nun is that they show the world that the love of God is worth giving up their own plans to devote themselves to serving God and serving others. I have known many happy priests and nuns.

EricNH. As a gay person, I may be a "freak" in your eyes, but to lump honosexuality together with pedophilia is ignorant and unfair. It's nice to see another "good" Christian without sin, cast another stone.

Celibacy for priests in the Catholic Church has nothing to do with God and everything to do with money. The Catholic Church instituted this rule so that the priests would not have children and would therefore leave their money to the Church instead of their kin. Maybe if the church was not so greedy they would have plenty of wonderful, married priests to preach.

In response to Diane Foster, since the time of Pope Leo XIII, the Catholic Church has held that Anglican Orders are invalid.(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01491a.htm).

Back to the main debate though, Father Cutié (koo-tee-eh, not cutie as Michael so coyly wrote) has done much good during his time as a priest, however I hope it won't be eclipsed by the damage that he may do with his pending decisions. I think that his CBS interview was fair. He made the point often that celibacy is NOT the issue. Yes it should be discussed, yes he struggled with it, but it is a good and fruitful discipline. However, what struck me is how covertly it started to become all about him. Did anyone notice how it was the paparazzi who were to blame for catching him red handed? Shouldn't it be his fault for being red-handed in the first place!

As many have rightly noted this isn’t a matter of a single frustrated guy seeking a wife, this is a married man, breaking his vows and going after another woman. True, he’s married to the Church, but the commitment is the same. Before you jump on the bandwagon and make him out to be a hero, ladies, just because he’s a attractive, ask yourselves this, how would you feel if your husband came home tonight and said “sweetie, I met someone else, I shouldn’t have been looking, but I was. I’m leaving now. I’m sorry for hurting you. Bye” That’s exactly the same way Fr. Alberto’s actions should make you feel.

There’s also the fact that the woman he’s involved with is a divorcée and thus, unless something isn’t being shared, can’t get married in the Church. Then again there’s the argument “well let him become Episcopalian…” How relativistic of you. If he truly loved the Church it wouldn’t be so easy for him to leave.

I pray he somehow returns to active ministry. For a man who has done so much good for the Church and has doubtlessly welcomed others back home to the Church from other denominations, it makes little sense for him to compromise himself so much.

Lastly, why is this so newsworthy? Is there really nothing more pressing going on?

I fully support Father Cutie, I know him as well.
The Catholic Church wasn't always celebate, the change came when a Pope decided that this would be better.
So let's think about this: If a priest is to council us in our marriage how can we be sure that they truly understand what a marraige entails if they have never expeirenced it themselves? I believe and I am catholic that they should be allowed to marry, procreate and have the same life situations we do.
I am proud of you Father Cutie- do not be discouraged your prayers will be answered.

Wait a minute here. When priests were abusing little boys sexually, they were transferred to other parishes. But one goes on a date with a woman, and he's excommunicated? Wonderful standards at work here.

Celibacy is more a tradition of the Catholic Church than a command of God. I don't find any scripture in the Bible where God says that those who receive the call of serving Him full-time has to refrain from marriage. On the contrary, Apostle Paul says in the New Testament that "if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion." (1 Corinthians 7:9 NKJV) We are created to enjoy affection and passion with the persons we are attracted and committed to. It's only natural to allow marriage for the priests, unless he is individually given the "gift" of celibacy by God and for such people keeping celibate would not be a problem at all.

PRIEST WHO HAD AIDS INFECTED MANY
I urge you all to also read an article about the late Haitian Roman Catholic priest Edner Delvacin. He knew well that he was suffering from AIDS, still he had the audacity to have a multitude of girlfriends and infected most of them. The article of concern can found on www.wehaitians.com. Click on the HIV/AIDS Education link, introductory section.

The writer, Prof. Yves A. Isidor, is the executive editor of wehaitians.com

The requirement for celibate vocations is why no one in the developed world is going into holy orders.
There is no good theological reason for it and it ends up attracting emotional cripples to the priesthood.

In response to Thomas Peters: Thank you for your prayers. Please also include in your players all children that were molested by priests and had their innocence forcefully taken away. Pray for all the children, hidden by the church from the public eyes, that are fatherless and will live a lie for the rest of their lives for the sake of the Catholic Church Image Preservation. Pray for all those children that will drops tears every night in silence so people like you can continue to vociferously glorify the image of a deceitful Church. Priest Celibacy scars people lives, destroy souls. Men are Men they always will be men, no matter how devoted they are to the church and GOD!

Becoming a liberal protestant will resolve this issue for many catholic priests.. Oh i forgot this ......... only covers catholic news stories.

Jesus said "I have conquered the world" (John 16:33). He is not of this world, and wants us to join in His kingdom. Celibacy is not irrelevant, but is a sign of those who are actively conquering this world themselves. We should be inspired by, and support those who give themselves so fully to their faith.
There is nothing to moderize: "If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you" (John 15:18). The world will always look to bring the Church down, and it has infected its members with worldliness who clamour for "modernizatin". People, especially catholics, who want the Church to change its stance on celibacy do not understand the work of the Holy Spirit - how it is in opposition to the will of the flesh, and wants us all to conquer the world, and NOT the world to conquer the Church.

Maybe if the Catholic church had less celibacy they would have fewer priests molesting young children. It is NOT normal or intended for adults to live a life of celibacy

In Response to post by Colin May 11, 09 09:21 PM,

Good post Colin! You summed it all up beautifully. You are absolutely correct. I also hope that Fater Cutie returns to the ministry since he has done so much good.

This article is just another attack piece by Paulson and the Boston Globe on the Catholic Church. With all the other things going on in the news, they rather spend the time attacking priestly celibacy again. Interestingly, Paulson left out Fr Cutie's statements in favor of priestly celibacy and how he does not want to be the "anti-celibacy" priest. But I guess that would only hurt your article attacking celibacy. Tabloid journalism as usual. Pathetic.

I happen to be close to a Priest and religious sisters who would disagree with the statement that NO adults are intended to live a life of celibacy. They describe beautifully how they understand the sacrifice they are making they but also realize we weren't made for this world but eternity in heaven. For those whom don't understand those who take a vow of celibacy I strongly urge you to find a religious sister, priest, or consecrated virgin who has and allow them to explain why? Don't try and think that those of us not called can understand through reading about it or through our own opinions. I also know the Priest at our parish could never serve to his maximum at sheparding those of the parish and being so readily available to adminster the Sacraments if he had a family. He chose the vocation of Priesthood over marriage because he realizes being married would require you to put family first after God not His important role as Priest. He is an unbelievably happy and content man and I'd honestly say after spending a good amount of time with these religious sisters at our parish who not only are celibate but have taken a vow of poverty, they are the most joyful people I know.

Peace and Blessings,

Mt. 19:10-11: His disciples say unto him: If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry. But he said to them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.

From the beginning, Christianity has regarded celibacy as an essential gift to the Church. It is a radical exhibition of faith, for if the Gospel isn't true, then it would be a tragic waste to give up human love and the promise of children, which are the sources of most people's happiness in life.

Jesus Christ was celibate. He was "a man like us in all things but sin." So unless marriage is sinful (which no Christian can believe), then it must be both possible and praiseworthy to freely give it up for a higher good.

In the New Testament, St. Paul tells us that it is best not to get married, but better to marry than to fall into sexual sin. He gives himself as an example of someone with the gift of celibacy.

The other apostles seem to have practiced celibacy also. We know that St. Peter was married before he met Christ, but we hear nothing about his family later on (and he asks Christ "what of us who have given up homes and families for the sake of the kingdom?"). There is no record of any of the other apostles having families. Most tellingly, in the entire history of the early Church, there is no evidence of even a single person described as a child, grandchild, or other descendant of an apostle.

Because Christians from the beginning regarded celibacy as the higher state (while insisting that marriage is good, contra the gnostics), it came to be seen early on as fitting that clergy would be celibate.

J Boles, your ignorant statement needs to be corrected.

Celibacy does not cause child molestation.

Michael Paulson, was he has "broad support" an intentional pun? ;)

I don't give a darn what the polls/schmolls say. That is not, nor ever will be, the was that Catholics, Orthodox nor Evangelicals determine doctrine. That's like saying 75% are in favor of 1+1=3.

Fr. Cutie said "falling in love is not something I chose." Being attracted to someone is automatic, and therefore not something we choose. But falling in
love, and persuing love, whether it be by a single or married person, is a free act of the will. Has Fr. Cutie every heard of the old Catholic phrase "avoiding the near occasion of sin?" In other words, if he knew women in general or this one women could be a threat to his chastity, he could have avoided being alone or in close, intimate situations with them. Or he could have shared it with his spiritual director early on, before it was too late. Or did he know of this weakness in the seminary (not being hetero, which is a good thing,but his likeliehood to slip?)

Eric says "the few normal priests." Do you know all the priests, so you can make such a baseless judgment? The abnormal priests have been expelled. Every priest i know is normal, or at least as normal as the general populace, which means imperfectly so.

GF, Fr. Cutie is not excommunicated, but suspended from his 'job'--big difference. He did not "go on a date," he carried on a 2 year relationship.

It’s confusing how can a priest, preach about not having sex until you get married and then you see him touching all over this women’s butt. And you can only assume they are also having sex. I do think priest should be able to get married but until then it’s either or get married or leave the priest hood, NO double standards. Typical Man wants his cake and eat it to. And she’s stupid for letting him continue that life with her she just his toy.

What she should be asking is when is the wedding now that he had to leave the priest hood

What would get Fr. Cutie excommunicated is this:

Having his girlfriend go to confession to him seeking absolution for her sexual acts with him.

Otherwise he's on leave of absence, I'm sure with his faculties suspended, and his bishop is awaiting his decision on what he will do before acting. (This same thing, on a much less public scale, happened to a former pastor of mine in the midwest. That priest never came back.)

Unfortunatly, some priests, and ministers, and politicians get so caught up in listening to all the compliments how sexy and charismatic they are, they let it go to their heads. They forget that they are only the medium for the message, not the message itself. It becomes a cult of personality. What is especially unfortunate especially in religion when the folks are complicit in this, "oh father is such a great priest, he's so handsome and charismatic etc." when often an aging, frumpy looking priest/minister might be much more of a saint, and be able to impart Christ's message in a less dramatic but more profound and sincere way.

I don't know about everyone else, but Fr. Cutie's situation reminds me of what I've always found most spiritually compelling and psychologically gratifying (couldn't tell the difference, though) about contemporary Catholicism: its utter infatuation with rules.

Rules, rules, rules - give me lots and lots of rules! Why waste time wrestling with things like ambiguity and complex moral questions when someone else has already done all the hard work for us? Just follow the rules!

Take celibacy, for example. No masturbation, no sex, and no questions! You break the rule, you're out! What's so hard about that?

And please stop this talk about celibacy being a "charism" - how can you follow the rules when you start questioning them? That's not what God wants!

I just can't think of a quicker or more certain way of entering the Kingdom of Heaven than to follow the rules. Against those who would claim our Lord's supper is an open banquet of love and forgiveness for all those who hunger for Him, I submit — because I happen to know this for a fact — that it is instead an extremely select club fit only for those who...guess what? Follow the rules!

Blessed indeed are the bouncers to this affair: those clergy but especially laity who stand, with burly arms folded, giving beautiful voice to the rules, glorious rules, which effectively fence out millions of souls a day from the Catholic banquet.

for those who are in error over the priesthood of episcopalians, they have none. The english latin church under herbert cardinal vaughan formed a committee of two priests a layman and a laywoman who looked into the succession of the anglican priesthood and found there was a gap at the time of elizabeth 1. elizabeth did not have one bishop that was ordained by a previous trio of apostlic successors. their findings were examined in rome and a jury of cardinals under pope leo agreed and published his papal bull that defined the lack of an anglican priesthood. two claims have made both unproven venupposed to be qualified and then some forgotten

Re: j-len
Not everyone who is married thinks being faithful to one person for life is the right thing and you see where that has gotten society. Do you think the church should change and dilute the principals, traditions and practices that have carried them throught 2000 + years because as humans we sometimes lack self control? I think we ask priests and married people all people in fact to live up to standards and if they can't they can't but we don't change the standards to meet society's weaknesses.

A. Believah complains about the amount of rules in contemporary Catholicism. (have you ever seen the volumes of laws published by the USgov't every year?) First of all this is nothing new, as Christianity is based on Judaism, which has over 600 laws, summarized in the 10 commandments. Jesus said that he did not come to wipe away the OT, but to complete it., although he did summarize the content of the laws as 'loving God and loving neighbor.' So if you have a problem with rules, then you also have a problem with Judaism and Jesus.

Most rules are established because someone has done something wrong, so the new rule is written to correct that, and warn others. If we were all angels, we wouldn't need rules, but we are creatures of flesh, with a partial tendency to go off the track, due to the hangover from Original Sin. Believah wants to "wrestle with ambiguity," but even college wrestling has some detailed rules. Yes, debate, question, wrestle, but between some parameters.

Of course Believah, i am sure you know that Jesus, and therefore his Church, really wants the rules to be only a bare minimum, that he wants us to go beyond the external to get to the essential internal meaning. Trouble is, lotsa folks can't even handle the bare minimum.

It all depends on how you read telos, now doesn't it? Some say end, others say fulfillment, still others say purpose (as in Aristotelian final cause).

I say all three; there's an intermediate spiritual space, in between abandoning all rules and fetishizing them, that is — in my view — eminently worth praying (or meditating) towards.

I don't know how the Spirit will guide Fr. Curie. Suffice it to say, perhaps, that he'll find his own way out of a mess not entirely of his own creation, and that his journey will have something to say to all of us.

Agreed and well said, Believah, re: intermediate, and refreshing to see someone else know some koine Grik. Granted, celibacy for priests is a church rule, but Fr. Cutie took it upon himself, made it his own rule, at the time of his ordination, unless he was laboring under some mental illness or outward compulsion. Plus, he is not married, so all the church is asking of him is the same as all other unmarried people, chastity, because the Lord does too. I pray the best for him; i'm sure he was quite an effective minister.

Wait...I'm confused...there was a heterosexual priest somewhere in America?

Where have I been?

Where does the celibacy rule come from? It's certainly not in the Bible.
It's a rule made by men and, in clerical terms, only applies in the ROMAN Church.
It's no argument to say "he knew what he was doing".
We all make commitments - even take vows to be faithful.
Jesus said that for a man to even look at a woman lustfully was adultery?
Now on Jesus definition, hands up "he who has not been unfaithful and sinned"!
For those called to a celibate life, go for it, but why is everyone else in RC Church excluded from Clerical Leadership?

As a former Roman Catholic, one who actually studied for the Priesthood in Rome, I must say that the rule for mandatory celibacy is outdated. it was not begun in the church for spiritual reasons but to protect church property. The Church developed its theology of celibacy after the fact. I am a happily married father and Anglican priest. I am a better priest because of my wife and my children. Fr. Cutie, while he should have handled this situation better then he did, is not wrong for wanting to be married have children, and be a priest. For the first 1000 years of the church the priests were married. Rome needs to wake up. So for the sake of tradition and some lame excuse about witnessing to society about sex, (by the way society really doesn't see it as there are not enough priests to give the witness Rome claims they do), we allow the people to suffer for lack of sacraments, and pastoral ministry. Not enough priests- lack of spiritual support for the people. Fr. Cutie, and the many like him should leave Rome and join the many of us former Romans in the Anglican priesthood and continue his ministry.

We have a lack of religious because the laity has a lack of true religious belief. There is a shortage of priests and religious because we have an overabundance of false Catholics. Jesus called us a "little flock." Not an overwhelming one without number. He also said that men were called to be eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom. That's right out of the Bible, but notice the term "eunuch." I do think that more priests and religious need to come forwards and be frank about celibacy and what it takes to be celibate--the discipline involved, etc. Also, laity need to quit contracepting their families to death--when are they going to admit that our reliance on "convenience" is the real reason for a lack of vocations and the fact that our economy stinks? We also need to acknowledge that celibacy has lead to an increase of men with same-sex attraction disorder infiltrating the Church. It's an easy lifestyle to hide under. Many of those that were molested by priests were teenagers, hence it being more like homosexual rape instead of pedophilia as such. Are we going to close all schools since there is a huge number of perverts who go into education because of the number of children? What about the ministers who have left their wives and families for someone else? "It's a slow fade," as Casting Crowns says. We're all sinners, and if we don't admit to our little faults during Confession, then we end up with many mortal sins that we feel trapped in. We need to go back to confession behind the veil, too. Face to face Confession allows for an interaction that I don't think is good at all nor is it necessary for the sacrament.

DEAR FR. CUTIE,
YOU HAVE NOTHING TO APOLOGISE FOR. GOD IS LOVE. YOU LOVE A WOMAN.
SINCE GOD IS LOVE, WHY APOLOGISE? GOD DOESN'T REQUIRE AN APOLOGY. HE NEEDS PRAISE. YOU WERE MOTIVATED BY LOVE. PRAISE THAT AND YOU WILL BE PRAISING GOD.

DON'T LEAVE THE PRIESTHOOD. LEAVE THINGS AS THEY ARE. IF THE WOMAN LOVES YOU, YOU AND SHE WILL WORK THINGS OUT 'CREATIVELY'.
REGINA

The once might catholic church ain't so squeeky clean itself.

POPES WHO WERE MARRIED
St. Peter (Apostle)
St Felix III 483-492 (2 children)
St. Hormidas 514-523 (1 son)
St Silverus 536-537
Hadrian II 867-872 (1 daughter)
Clement IV 1265-1268 (2 daughters

POPES WO HAD ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN AFTER 1139

Innocent VIII 1484-1492 Several children
Alexander VI 1492-1503 Several children
Julius 1503-1513 3 daughters
Paul III 1534-1549 3 sons 1 daughter
Pius IV 1559-1565 3 sons
Gregory XIII 1572-1585 1 son

POPES WHO WERE THE SONS OF OTHER POPES

St Damascus Son of St Lorenzo (priest)
St Innocent I Anastasius I
Boniface Son of a priest
St Felix Son of a priest
Anastasius II Son of a priest
Boniface VI Hadrian Bishop
and a few more.......

After Vatican II, several good priests and nuns left their services, leaving many Liars, Thieves, and Sexual predators running the church.

Father Cutie would be best served if he left the church. You can't win against the mighty church. They will squash you like a grape. They have a long history of doing just that.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black or (hipocracy) Lets cut this Father Cutie some slack he can't touch the actions of the Popes/Cardinals/Bishops/Priests listed above for their ways of life that we all thought were squeeky clean. UNBELIEVABLE!

What's the big deal? he is nothing but a man. It was after the twelve century that celibacy was introduce to the church...my opinion it just cost too much to support an entire family. Remember church law no contraceptions, a faithful priest could produce enough children to play football....Its always money that talks, why allow those poor priest to marry, they are not even paid not even minimum wage all that education and dedication and devotion to the church......any way, what was the reason in the first place for the change?

You know, I have reiterate here that he took a vow. If he doesn't like it, don't become a priest. It's not like he was a priest and the celibacy thing was just sprung on him out of nowhere, yet that is the way many of you Catholic bashing folks are making it out to be. If we changed everything you don't like about us, we wouldn't exist because you dislike just about everything about us. He wasn't excommunicated. Joining the Episcopalian church might get him excommunicated, breaking his vow will get him defrocked. There is a difference. Learn what we Catholics believe before you give your mighty opinions.

Oh, and one other thing. the Catholic Church is not just the Roman Rite that most of us are used to. There are over 20 rites in the Catholic Church and some allow priests to be married, although they can't become a bishop. But they can still be a priest. He didn't have to leave the Church for this. He could have become an Eastern Rite priest in full communion with Rome and things would have been fine. The problem is, he let his pride get in the way and thinks with his libido. What kind of a reason to join a different church is this? You join a church because you believe what it teaches, not because of a sexual issue.

I agree, the World wants the Church to change all our beliefs because of feelings. If a Priest is popular, good looking or makes the people laugh when he does his homily they are in love with all of these traits. They believe more with thier feelings then they do with what is true and what is going to make them feel happy, it does not matter what the Priest does wrong. Fr. Cutie is wrong and is a liar and will always be wrong for what he did, in his heart he knows that he is wrong, he should be ashamed. Once again all the people that are on his side are once again acting on their feelings instead of what is truly honest and true,

I lived in Miami Beach and saw Fr. Alberto Cutie on many English/Spanish television and interview shows. He is a good man and joining the Episcopal Church is a logical move for him or any RC priest who wishes to marry. Mandated celibacy in the RC Church has become an albatross. Both the RC and Episcopal churches have the same liturgies, the same Eucharist and the same beliefs except for mandated celibacy, the ordination of women and allegiance to the Pope in Rome. Calling Cutie a "fallen priest" is totally not true and very malicious. He is doing what is natural and not evil.

The thing i find most interesting are the people who don't believe in God and don't go to church are the first to judge . Is it a way of them dealing with their guilt of saying they are catholic but not practicing? Those that say well i will not go to church now because i don't like the priest - are you there for the priest or are you there for God? I do think priests should marry and this will probably change in time. I mean if a minister whom is married and has children from a different religion decides on changing religions and becoming a catholic priest and is allowed to keep his marriage then why can't a catholic priest get married. It's a form of hypocracy something the church is against. Just something to think about