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	Father Alberto Cutie's Religious Future Hangs in Balance By Casto Ocando Miami Herald May 11, 2009 http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1042105.html The Rev. Alberto Cutie's religious future depends on complex negotiations with the church. Following last week's revelation that South Florida's most famous Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Alberto Cutie, is involved in a romantic relationship with a woman, Cutie now faces a long and complicated process to determine his future in the church. During interviews last weekend, Cutie insisted he does not feel constrained by pressure from the Catholic hierarchy. ''What worries me most is how God views me. The institution, the church, is something else,'' Cutie said in an interview he gave to Univision that will air Tuesday. Whether he will remain a member of the church, either as a priest or lay person, will depend on complex negotiations and on how the church and Miami Archbishop John C. Favarola decide to apply the Code of Canonic Law, the constitutional text of the Roman Catholic Church. Cutie's decision to be interviewed by the news media, speaking freely of his romance while wearing his cassock, could be seen as an open challenge to Favalora's authority. El Nuevo Herald has been unable to confirm with the Archdiocese of Miami that it authorized Cutie to speak publicly. Several calls to the Mary Ross Agosta, the archdiocese spokeswoman, were not returned. The Code of Canonic Law set out the responsibility that clerics must assume regarding celibacy and chastity, as well as the consequences they face if they break their vows. Cutie has the option of asking to be released from his ministry. The procedure is complex. Cutie would have to present the request to Favalora, who would forward it to Pope Benedict XVI, the only person with the authority to grant it. The case would be handled by the archdiocese's judicial office. Cutie would have an attorney or advocate assigned to him, who will interview him and present documents to argue the need for a dispensation. In Rome, the case would be processed by a commission of the Sacred Congregation for the Faith. Cutie ''is in a favorable position,'' to resolve his situation quickly and honorably, according to a source within the church who asked to remain anonymous. ''He has the popular support of the Catholic community, and he is putting a topic on the table that the church has avoided, which is celibacy,'' the source said. ``By being so famous and beloved by the people, he has more possibilities of expediting a dispensation than if he were unknown.'' If Cutie decides to live with a woman and start a family, ''the church itself will suggest for him to petition a dispensation, and he will receive it quickly, since they don't want to set a precedent with a popular and rebellious cleric,'' the source said. ''Currently . . . clergymen older than 40 are awarded dispensations quickly. Those that have children, even faster. And those that live with a woman get it faster still,'' said the source.
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