Robert Stacy McCain

May 11, 2009

When I saw the headline about “Father Cutie” at the Pundit & Pundette blog, I thought this was a joke, but the priest’s name is actually Father Alberto Cutie—pronounced “Koo-tee-ay”—and the scandal is real. The big scoop came from the Mexican celebrity tabloid TVNotas:

EXCLUSIVO
?Santo Dios! El padre Alberto Primeras fotos de un sacerdote ‘in fraganti’ ?con su amante!

I don’t habla the Espanol so good, but basically, they got photos of him making out with his girlfriend at the beach. Father Cutie was already rather famous:

Father Alberto Cutie, known as “Padre Oprah,” the nationally known Spanish language television host, advice columnist and bestselling author of the book “Real Life, Real Love,” is creating quite a stir as he appears to be getting a dose of real love himself. . . .
In an interview with the Spanish language network Univision, Father Cutie said that despite the scandal the photos have created, he doesn’t want to give up either his collar or the woman he loves. . . .
After the photos appeared, the Archdiocese of Miami immediately removed him from his duties as a priest at St. Frances de Sales church in Miami Beach.

The Associated Press reports that Father Cutie “told the CBS ‘Early Show’ on Monday he supports the church’s stand that priests should be celibate and said he does not want to become the ‘anti-celibacy priest.’”

Of course, conservative Catholics can expect a spree of columns pondering “what this means” for the celibate priesthood, whereas liberal Catholics will wax nostalgic for the “good old days” when priests molested altar boys. Being notoriously Protestant myself, I just hope Father Cutie—or ex-Father Cutie, as he may soon become—avoids those scandalous nude beauty queens.