American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture
Following up on the story, Padre Alberto had his church wedding, followed by a honeymoon in Greece, and will be in PEOPLE EN ESPAÑOL talking about it,
The article is titled “El amor lo puede todo”, or “Love conquers all.”
which is a better title than “Dios los cría y ellos se juntan.”
Prior posts on Padre Alberto here.
Noticias24, the Spanish-language cable TV stations, and the Miami Herald have the happy news:
Alberto Cutié, bride married by judge, will have religious ceremony
Alberto Cutié walked away from a Coral Gables court early Tuesday morning, marriage license in-hand, according to a record posted on Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts website that lists 35-year-old Ruhama Buni Canellis as the bride.
The couple was legally married by a judge, but sources say they still will have religious ceremony within the next week in an unnamed Episcopal church. The Rt. Rev. Leo Frade, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida, will officiate that wedding.
Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Cutié.
Father Cutié gets standing ovation at his first sermon at new Episcopalian church
The Rev. Alberto Cutié gave the sermon at the Episcopal Church of The Resurrection in Miami. Episcopalian priests can marry, unlike their Catholic counterparts.
He had barely said good morning when Cutié received a standing ovation. A handful of people held their personal cameras in the air, capturing what they could.
Cutié looked out at the crowd and said, “I am humbled by your presence here.”
He then delivered a sermon that spoke of common themes — God’s love, faith and perseverance — with a few lighter moments referring to his leaving the Catholic church thrown in.
In his sermon, Cutié spoke of a sea captain lost at sea for so long he ran out of water for his crew. Then another ship came by and told the ships crew to lower their buckets. The captain thought this was crazy.
Except, it turns out, the ship had wandered into an area with fresh water.
It was a theme he returned to several times — the love of God is here for all. But first we must lower our buckets.
Cutié closed his sermon saying, “Church is about living in the spirit of God, and the spirit of God is love.”
For the past month the debate in my comments section has raged on, and the comments have become increasingly vicious. It’s time they stop. We need to draw from the waters of human kindness, to use Alberto’s metaphor.
I have an announcement to make:
Padre Alberto has made a decision that I feel is the right decision, and the best decision for him. The time for the debate has ended as far as my blog goes.
Commenters at this blog are my guests and if you have bad things to say about this good man, you can start your own blog.
Several friends sent this, including Kate and Danelle,
‘Padre Oprah’ Joins Episcopal Church
A popular Miami priest and media personality known as ”Father Oprah” has left the Catholic Church and joined the Episcopal Church after he was photographed cavorting on the beach with his girlfriend.
The Rev. Alberto Cutie (KOO’-tee-ay) 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 Episcopal Church 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.
Cutié joins Episcopal church, will marry
The Rev. Alberto Cutié, the celebrity priest 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, has left the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami to join the Episcopal church and announced that he will marry the woman he has dated for two years.
Joining him in becoming an Episcopalian was the woman in the photos, Ruhama Buni Canellis, 35.
The small, private ceremony happened at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Trinity Cathedral, the church’s South Florida headquarters in downtown Miami.
Cutié, dressed in a white dress shirt, a black jacket and black dress pants, sat smiling beside his fiancé during the half-hour ceremony. Priests and deacons from the Episcopal church were by his side — many notably accompanied by their wives.
Bishop Leo Frade, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida, officiated as Cutié and Canellis knelt in front of the bishop and were received into the Episcopal church.
The bishop also gave Cutié special status as a lay minister, meaning he can preach in Episcopal churches but not celebrate the Eucharist, the symbolic body and blood of Christ.
Cutie will give his first sermon as an Episcopalian 10 a.m. Sunday at the Church of The Resurrection in Biscayne Park. It will take Cutié at least a year to be certified as an Episcopal priest.
I expect that will be a full church.
Noticias 24 and El Herald have the story in Spanish.
Prior posts on Padre Alberto here.
Diario Las Américas reports that Univisión is broadcasting a Gordo y La Flaca special on Padre Alberto tomorrow at 10PM Eastern.
El Gordo y la Flaca speculate whether the photos (and video) of Alberto and his honey were set up by the couple in advance with the paparrazzi.
That’s in addition to el Gordo y la Flaca’s constant topic on their daily gossip hour. As they say, too much is never enough.
Prior posts on Padre Alberto here.
One photographer in Father Alberto scandal begs for forgiveness
One of the two paparazzi who took photographs of the Rev. Alberto Cutié frolicking on a beach with a woman has begged for the public’s forgiveness on Univisión’s Cristina talk show.
While speaking Monday to the show’s host, Cristina Saralegui, photographer Lorenzo Gonzalez said he was only doing his job last month when he snapped a few shots of the Roman Catholic priest with his lover.
”Truly, I want you to understand that we’re only news providers,” he said.
Alberto was told about the photos the day before the pictures were published.
The two paparazzi, Lorenzo Gonzalez and Luis Castillo, along with TVNoticias editor Juan Garcia Alejandro, were on Cristina Saralegui’s TV show. Considering that Saralegui is a personal friend of Padre Alberto, it was rather brave of the photographers and the editor to have agreed to the interview. Interestingly, Alberto’s girlfriend was photographed meeting with one of the paparazzi recently.
There are new photos of Alberto and his girlfriend coming up. I’ll post them once they’re available.
Meanwhile, celibacy debate continues.
The debate on Padre Alberto rages on. So far over 20,000 visitors have come to this blog, and my posts on Padre Alberto have gathered over 70 comments, more than on any other person I’ve ever blogged about.
The press continues the debate, from South Africa, ‘Fallen’ priest’s affair threatens to divide church
to Pittsburgh, Give the poor padre a break, which came up with this line,
Imagine being a healthy, single 39-year-old working in South Beach — and you’re sworn to celibacy? It’s like the Vatican version of waterboarding.
Give the poor padre a break. Jesus himself would get whiplash on Ocean Drive, where impure thoughts come in waves, often on Rollerblades.
The Miami Herald blog says There’s still room at the mike for Father Alberto Cutie; that much is clear. Considering the amount of attention the story is still getting, you can be assured that Alberto’s going to be continuing his very successful broadcast and media career in the future.
And he looks maahveloss.
By the way,
The comments I’ve been getting on Alberto’s sexuality, and the speculation as to whether he’s already fathered children are rumors. The facts are that Alberto:
a. violated his vow of celibacy and
b. was photographed making out with a woman at the beach.
Prior posts on Alberto here.
In the ongoing Padre Alberto soap opera, this:
Father Cutié suspects Cuban spies taped his affair
In an interview taped Friday and aired Tuesday night on Univisión’s Aqui y Ahora, Cutié — whose fate with the Catholic church remained up in the air Wednesday — intimated it might have been Cuban spies who followed him and taped him getting frisky with his lover on a beach in Miami.
”I knew that during some time I was being followed,” Cutié said. ‘I think that being Cuban-American, we have that paranoia that perhaps it could be someone from another government, from another place. … I had experiences at Radio Paz of seeing strange cars when I would leave work late or arrive early. I would see things and I would say, `I wonder who would be following me?’ ”
Papparrazzi, perhaps?
Anyway, Univision has the perfect photoshop:
