Padre Alberto's Truth- You Decide?

I've always believed there are no coincidences in life. This latest scandal from Miami is another confirmation of that belief. 3 weeks ago I blogged about how the church's stance on requiring celibacy of it's priests was an outdated discipline that's time has come to end and serendipitously comes a pretty huge scandal involving one of it's brightest stars, Father Albert Cutie' of breaking his vow of celibacy. Undoubtedly, an asset to the church and a liasion bringing younger generations of followers to this antiquated religious belief system with his fresh candor, relevant sermons and pure passion to bring God into people's lives. No one can ever take away his passion and the good that he has done in making the church seem a lot more friendly and a lot less confined and stale to contemporary-minded Americans.

This pastor to his small church of St. Francis on 6th and Alton on Miami Beach has touched millions with his message and mission through his best selling books, talk and radio show as well as weekly editorial for the Miami Herald. He has earned his credibility and celebrity status. With the looks of an actor you would think the church purposely casted him in this role as a good PR move, this Father Cutie' is a cutie and the Church's best assets today.

Still, this breaking news and salacious story of his love affair with a woman just doesn't jive with what I know this man to be. An intelligent, measured, dignified and very astute man would never get caught en flagrante over a period of 3 days no less doing something that he was fully aware would get him fired from the church he loves so dearly. A church he has devoted his entire life to promoting and defending. Unless it was a deliberate plea to become accepted by the Holy Father or a desperate plea to hide something more damaging? There have been rumors circulating on South Beach that the real reason was that he was in a long term relationship with a man and that it was coming to a head after said man threatened to blackmail him with threats of going to the media with evidence of their relationshiop. This may have been the Father's desperate attempt to beat the whistle blower to the pass and diffuse any possibility to defame him in the eyes of the church and the world even further. Regardless of motive, this is another blaring example of the church's inability to evolve with the times and proof of it's decreasing relevance to contemporary human beings. Neither heterosexual nor homosexual affairs should be causes to bring down a man that has done so much and brought so many to a church that is every day becoming more and more of an endangered species.

A professor at FIU and friend of Father Albert Cutie' for years, Uva de Aragon, was quoted "Frankly, this was not very smart, flouting what you are doing. Did he want to get caught?" If he did want to protest the church's policy on celibacy, he would've done it in a more dignified and self-respecting manner by publically resigning with a statement protesting the church's policy. Instead he was photographed and busted. Immediately after the photos' were publicized in TVnotas, the Archdiocese of Miami announced on Tuesday that Father Cutié, was suspended from preaching at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, he also lost his gig hosting his show on Pax Catholic Communications.

Father Albert told Hispanic Magazine in 2007 "I'm not the priest for the regular Catholic crowd," "I made that decision a long time ago. I'm the priest for the lost sheep. Which is why I do the media thing and the press thing and the book thing."-Thats' fine and dandy but then why would you knowingly get caught over a period of 3 days with public displays of affection with a woman on the beach that you preach in that is about 5 square miles? Couldn't he have taken a trip to Croatia or somewhere else obscure? That is way too below his level of intelligence. Unless it was an orchestrated spin-doctoring of his own to avoid a much larger one.

After being placed on leave he has reportedly been sent by Archbishop of Miami John C. Favalora to an undisclosed location to pray and reflect upon his fall from grace. The latest "story" from the church now is that he decided to take a leave of absence to reflect on his situation. It's no wonder Republicans are so adept at spin doctoring situations to fit their needs. They perfected their craft learning by example at mass every Sunday.

Like the ever so enigmatic message by Gaudi' engraved on the entrance doors of the Cathedral La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, "Que es la verita'?". When will the Church come clean and finally tell us the truth? Here's your chance Mr. Pope Benedict to prove to the world that you aren't going to extinguish yourselves in your stubborness from evolving. Shed this farce of a policy that has led to so much scandal and pain. It would be a small start.

Hey and if Father Albert doesn't get reinstated, he can always preach at an Episcopalian church. They have no celibacy restrictions.

History of Celibacy in the Catholic Church

• Peter, the first pope, and the apostles that Jesus chose were, for the most part, married men. The New Testament implies that women presided at eucharistic meals in the early church.


• Eleventh Century-1045-Pope Boniface IX dispensed himself from celibacy and resigned in order to marry.


• 1074-Pope Gregory VII said anyone to be ordained must first pledge celibacy: ‘priests [must] first escape from the clutches of their wives.’


• 1095-Pope Urban II had priests’ wives sold into slavery, children were abandoned.


• The Roman Catholic church has left the policy or "discipline" virtually unchanged for the past 900 years, saying it allows for a dedication to God and the church without distraction.

Popes who were married

1. St. Peter, ApostleSt. Felix III 483-492 (2 children)


2. St. Hormidas 514-523 (1 son)


3. St. Silverus (Antonia) 536-537


4. Hadrian II 867-872 (1 daughter)


5. Clement IV 1265-1268 (2 daughters)


6. Felix V 1439-1449 (1 son)

Impassioned apology from Father Albert Cutie's website: http://www.padrealberto.net/

STATEMENT FROM FATHER ALBERT CUTIÉ
Before God - full of love and mercy - I ask for the forgiveness of those who may be hurt or saddened by my actions. Since I entered the seminary at the age of 18, the priesthood has brought me great joy. The commitment that I made to serve God will remain intact. I am grateful for the love and support I have received today from so many in our community, especially my parishioners and the supporters of the radio stations who have demonstrated great compassion and understanding toward me as a human being. I ask for your continued prayers and support.
Father Albert Cutié

Story of celebrity Priest punished for being in love: http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/1033259.html

Fascinating blog on Archbishop Milingo's crusade to end the church's celibacy policy:http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/2006/07/13/archbishop-milingo-schism-over-married-priests/

How Milingo's brief marriage mysteriously ended after the Pope personally visited him: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2482321.stm

Palm Beach news story of Father Albert's stance on the matter: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2009/05/07/0507priestfuture.html

Pope upholds centuries old policy of celibacy in 2007: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258442,00.html

History of Celibacy in the church: http://www.futurechurch.org/fpm/history.htm

Another bloggers entry regarding the scandal:
http://elcabezadepuerco.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/y-esta-alberto-el-cura/

A mother's gay-straight alliance with her son

Today, more than ever I am proud to be the son of a mother who has joined me as a dedicated soldier in my fight for equality. Today, my mother; Doctora Isabel Gomez-Bassols http://doctoraisabel.net/ asked me to speak on her national radio talk show on Univision radio to debate our points of view regarding whether or not celebrities should come out of the closet to aid in the gay civil rights battle in this country. After reading my blog about the topic I had explained to her that it is a social war and the most dangerous gays are the ones that are in the closet and that are so self-hating that they'll do anything in their power to undermine our struggle just to free themselves from being discovered as being gay themselves. The Catholic church is chock-full of self-hating gays preaching for others to not accept us. The government also has it's shar of self-hating, closeted gays (Senator Larry Craig, Mark Foley) pushing for laws denying any rights to my people. The same way whites in the north stood up to the false notions of racists in this country that discrimination because of color was unjust, my mother has utilized the platform of her show to help me in being vocal for gays in this country to finally win and end their struggle for full civil rights. One day, we will look back and laugh at all this bickering and manipulation by religious establishments. One day hopefully, religious institutions will be a thing of the past too. I envision a world without separate and divisive religious organizations, a world with one, unified belief system, without religious doctrine based on fear. All religions believe in god so why can't we just boil it down to one belief system that holds love amongst men unconditionally to be the highest form of spirituality? After all, isn't that the purpose of spirituality, to spread God, Mohammed's, Allah, whomever's message of love to all?

I guess being a son of such a powerful and intelligent woman rubs off on you in some way. I guess that's where I get the conviction to live out and proud and speak on her national radio show to defend the rights of gays in this country. She did a perfect job of raising me and for this I thank her and pay homage to her in this blog.

When I decided to tell my mother my most tragic and sad secret, it was motivated from my trying to live a more honest, truthful life. In the same way I felt it was disrespectful to be with a woman sexually and fantasize about being with a man, it was disrespectful and hurtful to have her believe the lie that I was straight, regardless of whether that lie was supported by her self-inflicted illusions or my actions to hide it. Her being a mom first and psychologist second trumped her education and her initial reaction was that it was a result of not having enough interaction or affection from my father. It was more a knee-jerk reaction to my announcement than an actual belief. In the end, she knew better.

When my farm raised, Cuban father found out, it hit him so hard that all he could do was ask himself where he went wrong. He was so focused on what he did wrong to cause this to happen to his secretly favorite son. The son that he thought would bring pride to his name, succeed where he went wrong and completely eat that piece of American Pie he came to this country for. I'll never forget how my sister told me of the night he broke down and fell to the floor crying after getting out of his truck on his way home from work. He kept rambling and crying uncontrollably, asking her "Where did I go wrong?, What did I do to make him this way? That night in a reversal of roles, she cried with our father and held him as if he was her son. He was a man that never cried not even at his father's own funeral. It wasn't his fault, nor my mother's. He did nothing to cause what I was and am today. I can confidently confess with every cell in my physical being and every bit of my soul that I was simply born that way. It is not a curable disease, it is simply another color in the human rainbow, another way to love. Not the destruction of humanity but rather a challenge to humanity for compassion and understanding among men, across cultural and national borders. Homosexuality has always and will always exist just as heterosexuality has in every country in the world. We will not go away or disappear into invisibility. We are humans, Americans, leaders, sons, daughters, citizens of this world with our only wish being to be left alone to live out our lives and learn our karmic lessons in this life along with the rest of the beings on this blue marble we call Earth. If you are a fellow warrior, now is the time to be vocal, to not be afraid to stand up in church, at dinner tables, parties, wherever hatred is espoused against fellow humans whom happen to be homosexual. It is time to call people out on their hatred wrapped in religious justifications. The year is 2009, it is time for us to get over this to move on to bigger and greater things like saving this Earth before we completely extinguish ourselves. That, my friends is the real threat to humanity. If my mother were Pope, that is what she would preach. Why is it again that women can't be pope?

Pope accused of stoking homophobia after he equates homosexuality to climate change:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5387858.ece

Listen to the recording of my mother's show where we debate over closeted celebrities (in Spanish) 1/9/09 http://www.miunicast.com/Public/Media/DraIsabel-2009.01.09.mp3