Hermenuetics

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Dear Brainwashed: Alberto Cutie is pathological! The man had vowed to give his life to Christ as a Catholic priest, but when it was discovered that he was secretly breaking those vows, what did he do? Did he apologize and vow to repent? Did he leave the priesthood to be with the woman he loved but still remain in the church? No, in the blink of an eye, he rejected his entire belief system and hooked up with the first church that would give him a leadership role (narcissist!) and a comfy sinecure. No doubt he'll turn on the Episcopal church soon enough and we'll see him on cable TV in a flashy suit, speaking in tongues and telling us to send money or God will call him home.

Posted By: Johann | August 7, 2009 8:22 AM

Alberto Cutie is not pathological as the previous poster stated. His decision to leave the Roman Catholic Church was not made in haste after being photographed kissing his girlfriend. Cutie had been meeting privately with Bishop Leo Frade of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida, as well as Episcopal parish priests, for several years. Father Cutie will spend one year in training before he is ordained in the Episcopal Church. So Get your facts straight!

Posted By: Barry Chitwood | August 11, 2009 1:49 PM

Cutié may not be pathological, but he is a narcissist and a liar. The fact is, that yes he was speaking with Frade for two years, but once he was found out to be having an affair he asked Favalora for a year of prayer and discernment. Then, less than two months later he has apostatized and been received like the second coming by the poor people of the Episcopal diocese of southern Florida. He lied to Bp. Favalora, he lied to the Catholic Faithful he was assigned to serve, to say he is not a liar is to ignore Cutié's own statements.

Posted By: Colin | August 14, 2009 10:18 PM

Why do we insist on denegrating our own people? I am truly sad about the fact the we as "children" of the One and Only True God find it so easy to judge, ridicule and persecute each other. Whether this man made vows to commit his whole life (body, soul & spirit) to the catholic faith, and covenants that rule over that decision, he is still first a man. I am not Catholic, so I can only speak from the perspective of a caring layperson, who's tired of the "church of God" finding it so easy to cast a stone. The rules that govern leadership in this faith will always find itself at odds because it lends itself to place the make-up and design of man at odds with the roots of his faith and conversion. If a sincere heart (in your youth) is pricked to give itself (in accordance with the roots of its teachings) to the call of God on his/her life; that is a noble and commendable decision. However, this faith (as noble as it is) has required that a man or woman suppress his/her true design, in later years, and pretend he is somehow divine. This is not so. There has been and will always be only one Jesus. He is the only man who lived without sin or earthly entanglements. What I am saying is that Fr Cutie is a man. He is designed just as God has designed all men. He should not be demonized because he allowed himself to become what God created him to be. How many people in this world break their vows to another person in marriage, and yet expect forgivness? When you request it does He not give it to you? Then Fr Cutie is no different. He has the same right, access and privilege we all do to the same forgiveness. If he has repented of any sin, He has received it. Mankind forces rules and laws on mankind that the flesh has little chance of keeping fully. But the Grace and Mercy of God provide a sweet relief from the constraints of religion. It is not good for man to be alone...in the natural. After this man's life transitioned from a child's spiritual infatuation with his God to a new stage, he found that he could not live fully committed to the vows of celibacy, so he did the wise thing--he left. He did not leave God and God did not leave him. Personally I would rather him face his own limits and do the honorable thing, to 'marry', than to have him attempt to carry on this relationship the dark (which surely come to light), and have another scandal break out in the church at large. We have enough problems with our image vs our confession in the world. Its about time we began focusing on how we can reach "the lost", rather than raging about how "the found and redeemed" walk out their redemption. We might just be missing our own opportunities for repentance. Do you have a beam in your eye? In keeping with the scriptures, maybe your "brother" will help you take it out?

Posted By: Rhonda | August 15, 2009 1:34 AM

Dear Rhonda,

There is no mercy without justice. I realize Alberto is a sinner and a weak man. I realize we are all sinners. However, that does not mean we should excuse each others' sins, rather as St. Paul teaches us, when people stray from the faith, we should hold them accountable, for their own good and ultimately for their own salvation.
It's not about persecuting the man, but about recognizing that he is living a lie (and a sinful adulterous life), and in doing so, he is leading countless numbers of people astray.

Celibacy is a gift, both Christ and St. Paul speak of it's importance. And vows are important too. If all of us held our promises in such low regard, if we constantly broke our word, our world would be even more broken and chaotic. Vows like marriage and ordination are meant to be kept for life. There are circumstances in which one may ask to be released, but there are processes by which this is done. Perhaps Alberto found that he hadn't received the gift of celibacy. Perhaps he realized, for any number of reasons, that he wanted to leave the priesthood. However, if he had any love for God or God's people, Alberto should have acted in a very different way. Were he a man, he first should have gone to his bishop (Favalora). He should have asked for a time of prayer and discernment. And he should have asked for laicization. THEN he should have spoken with Frade and all the rest. Rather, he chose to act like a schoolboy on escapades, a very undignified thing to do.

There is no way to justify his actions. May God have mercy on him and on us all.

Posted By: Colin | August 16, 2009 8:31 AM

It's not so ironic that he migrated to the Episcopal Church, which was started (well, at least the Anglican Church was) under virtually the same auspices. The Catholic King Henry VIII wanted a divorce, couldn't get one, so he started his own church, putting himself as supreme head of it. Like Mel Brooks said, "it's good to be king."

It seems to be the mark of the modern Protest-antism in America: we search for a church that already believes like we do, rather than the other way around. We become the sole arbiter of truth in our own universe. It's an authority problem.

This is just another episode of man going his own way, shirking his vows, and the ecclesial authority that was left here by Christ himself.

"Nobody wants a pope, but everybody wants to BE the pope." Especially these days. Especially in America.

Posted By: jt | August 17, 2009 3:02 PM

It's not so ironic that he migrated to the Episcopal Church, which was started (well, at least the Anglican Church was) under virtually the same auspices. The Catholic King Henry VIII wanted a divorce, couldn't get one, so he started his own church, putting himself as supreme head of it. Like Mel Brooks said, "it's good to be king."

It seems to be the mark of the modern Protest-antism in America: we search for a church that already believes like we do, rather than the other way around. The appeal of Protest-antism is that if you can't find a church that believes as you want them to, you just start a new one yourself. We become the sole arbiter of truth in our own universe. It's an authority problem.

This is just another episode of man going his own way, shirking his vows, and the ecclesial authority that was left here by Christ himself.

"Nobody wants a pope, but everybody wants to BE the pope." Especially these days. Especially in America.

Posted By: jt | August 17, 2009 4:19 PM

oops! i'm really sorry my post showed up three times...

Posted By: jt | August 18, 2009 5:32 PM

THERE IS A PROFOUND SADNESS THAT FOLLOWS US TOWARDS THE END THAT ONLY GOD SUFFICES THAT NO ONE REALIZES RIGHT NOW MOST ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO VOWED TO BE MARRIED TO THE CHURCH. THERE ARE 8 LONG YEARS TO PREPARE TO SAY "YES" OR "NO" AND ONE CAN FREELY LEAVES THE PRIESTHOOD BEFORE THEN. ALBERTO CUTIE WILL MEET WITH THIS THOUGHT AND COME FACE TO FACE WITH HIMSELF AT THE END.

Posted By: MGM | August 28, 2009 10:58 PM

Jesus' revelation to Mutter Vogel:

"One should never attack a priest, even when he's in error, rather one should pray and do penance that I'll grant him My grace again. He alone fully represents ME, even when he doesn't live after My example. When a priest falls we should extend him a helping hand through PRAYER and not through attacks. I myself will be his judge, no one but ME. Whoever voices judgment over a priest has voiced it over ME; child never let a priest be attacked, take up his defense."

I know what it's like to be unjustly persecuted by Catholics. It's truly the most frightening thing in the whole wide world. It would've been less offensive to be treated that way by criminals, at least from them maltreatment could be expected.

Posted By: mc | September 4, 2009 10:00 PM

hmmm...the first paragraph made a lot of sense, and was quite biblical...and historical, but the second paragraph i did not understand...

Posted By: jt | September 6, 2009 2:19 AM

One of the horrors of Vatican II is that they CHANGED the Rite of Ordination. Cutie was likely invalidly ordained and probably not even a priest. The ecumenical, heretical, masonic Vatican II sect has done a generation of damage. Very few know true Catholic dogma anymore.

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino,” EX CATHEDRA:

“The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Church before the end of their lives; that the unity of this ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only for those who abide in it do the Church’s sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the Christian militia produce eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.”

Posted By: mc | May 5, 2010 9:07 PM

Correction to previous comment (by mc (me) 5/5/10): Please disregard the words "EX CATHEDRA" which did not come into existence until Vatican I, and then only under suspicious conditions. Otherwise, the quote by Pope Eugene IV is okay (quote was cut/paste from another site that tacked on "ex cathedra"). I continue to study the Catholic faith and I just don't want to intentionally mislead anyone. Thanks.

Posted By: mc | August 9, 2010 10:25 PM