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	Some Parishioners Show Support for Scandal-plagued Alberto Cutie By Jaweed Kaleem, Lydia Martin and Charles Rabin Miami Herald May 6, 2009 http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1034916.html A day after the news broke about Miami Beach celebrity priest Alberto Cutie frolicking on the beach with an unidentified woman, the iron gates and the large wooden door at St. Francis de Sales were locked. But that didn't stop the elderly women next door from congregating outside to talk about the popular priest. ''I would have condemned him if it would have been a young boy, but it was a woman,'' argued Zunilda Junco, 81, who attends the church frequently. ''He hasn't killed anyone,'' said Dominga Jimenez, 83. ''Or raped anyone,'' Junco responded. The residents of 628 Lulav Square, most of whom attend Cutie's church, have sympathy for the priest many called a good and decent man. The actions of one afternoon, many said, should not overshadow his life's work. ''I know he feels alone now,'' said Maria Alvarez. As recently as last Sunday, she approached him for advice. ``We're human. We fall.'' But Angel Vina, 88, said the incident was inevitable for the handsome priest. ''It was an opportunity, and no one would miss out on that,'' said a chuckling Vina, wearing a yellow guayabera. ``Now he's got a lot of women after him.'' Mass was celebrated at the church at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning by the Rev. Raphael Mieszla, normally a priest at Camillus House. A wildly popular Catholic priest, newspaper columnist and radio and television personality, Cutie will no longer run operations or say Sunday Mass at the South Beach church. Word of Cutie's punishment came during a brief news conference Tuesday in front of a small gathering of reporters at the Archdiocese of Miami headquarters on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami Shores. ''The vow of celibacy is part of the ordination,'' said spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta. ``A man who is a priest is able to totally focus on the church.'' Earlier in the day, Cutie spoke with Archbishop John C. Favalora, who said that the pictures of Cutie and the woman saddened him. ''Father Cutie's actions cannot be condoned despite the good works he has done as a priest,'' Favalora said in a statement. ``I ask for everyone's prayers at this time.'' Cutie also released a brief, one-paragraph note, thanking those who support him and asking for the ``forgiveness of those who may be hurt or saddened by my actions.'' Local reaction to Cutie's removal and the 25 pictures that surfaced this week in the Mexican celebrity magazine TVnotas, was strong -- and varied. While some church leaders say Cutie violated a vow of chastity, churchgoers and the public at large were more forgiving. ''He's a human. So he can make mistakes,'' said St. Francis parishioner Karla Unda. ``I know he shouldn't do that. I know it's against the policies of the church. But it's OK. He's a human being.'' At WACC Radio Paz, where Cutie hosted a show until he was removed by the Church on Tuesday, listeners visited and prayed at the station chapel. Most callers to an afternoon show focusing on Cutie were supportive and forgiving. An elderly woman told WWFE La Poderosa host Eddie Calderon that Cutie was very handsome, and that, ``If I were a young woman, I would go to church every day just to look at him.'' And at WOCN Union Radio, a man told host Ricardo Brown that Cutie's misdeed was inevitable. ''He was surrounded by too much temptation,'' the man said. The words were more harsh from inside the church. ''A commitment is a commitment,'' said the Rev. James Murphy, pastor at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church in Miami Lakes. ``To me, it's similar to a vow a person takes in marriage to be faithful to one person. A priest takes a commitment to be faithful to the church.'' This week's cover of TVnotas shows Cutie, 40, lying on his back in blue shorts with an unidentified, brown-haired woman in a dark bathing suit wrapping her legs around him. The other 24 pictures, which TVnotas says were taken over a three-day period in March, include one with Cutie's hand inside the woman's bathing suit touching her posterior. Still another shows the couple kissing at an unidentified terrace bar. The photos came to light about six weeks after paparazzi tried to peddle them locally but were turned away. Isabel Bucaram-Montana, spokeswoman for Spanish Broadcasting System's Mega TV, said the station was offered the pictures for more than $100,000, but said no. ''We did not feel two or three days worth of ratings were worth it,'' she said. The pictures were also offered to WSBS-TV, a Spanish-language station in Key West. Executive vice president Cynthia Hudson said the station was wary because it couldn't verify the photos. Hudson said they were being peddled as pictures taken on a North Florida beach near St. Augustine. ''We didn't know if they had doctored it,'' she said. ``These are career-destroying photos, we all know that.'' Cutie being tailed by paparazzi is testament to his celebrity status. More significantly, the Cutie incident is another unwanted problem for the Roman/ Catholic Church, still reeling from dozens of nationally scrutinized cases of illicit sexual contacts between priests and underage boys. In a 1999 interview with The Miami Herald, Cutie spoke of the difficulty of maintaining celibacy, saying, ``it's a struggle, but it's a good struggle.'' Two weeks ago, in an interview with The Washington Post, Cutie said his celibacy didn't interfere with advice he gives to married couples. Asked how he is able to preach on South Beach, land of nightlife and clubs and beautiful people, Cutie told the Post you remember God created it all. ''People come to the Beach for all kinds of things -- nightlife, partying, dancing, sex, vacations, to have fun,'' Cutie said. ``Probably the last thing on people's minds is that they would come for spirituality. But my little church is a spiritual oasis in the middle of the noise of South Beach.'' With few exceptions, Catholic priests are celibate, which means they don't marry, and refrain from sex. The Roman Catholic church has left the policy virtually unchanged for the past 900 years, saying it allows for a dedication to God and the church without distraction. Still, some believe the rule is outdated. ''I believe that the Catholic priests should be allowed to marry because they are men and they like women,'' said Guillermo Rey, a neighbor of the Beach church at 621 Alton Rd. ``If a Protestant priest can marry, how come a Catholic priest can't? And I think he's a good guy, a very decent guy. He shouldn't be judged.'' Cutie, born in Puerto Rico to Cuban parents, is not a typical priest. He writes a column about relationships for El Nuevo Herald. He works out. He likes disco. Cutie grew up in Kendall, graduating from Southwest Miami High in 1987. In 1995 he was ordained by the Archdiocese of Miami. His popularity soared with the success of the daily Telemundo television show Padre Alberto in 1999. By 2002, he was hosting a weekly talk program on the network, reaching millions of viewers in Canada, Spain and most of Latin America. A year later he officiated Celia Cruz's funeral in Miami. By 2006, his first self-help book, Ama de Verdad, Vive de Verdad -- Real Life, Real Love -- was published. Newsweek gave him the moniker Father Oprah, which Cutie said he prefers to Father Springer or Father Cristino. In December, Cutie went on CNN to blast Playboy magazine for a cover in its Mexican edition that featured an Argentine model looking like the Virgin Mary. He called Playboy ''hypocritical'' for saying it wasn't meant to portray Mary, and called the photo ``blasphemous.'' By Tuesday afternoon, Cutie's website, which featured information on his self-help book and his television and radio programs, was shut down. Miami Herald staff writers Jose Pagliery, Rebecca Dellagloria and Glenn Garvin contributed to this report. Contact: crabin@MiamiHerald.com
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