Or priests with special needs?
.
The celibacy issue is being raised once again because of Fr. Cutie - the whole affair sounds a bit like Dave Stone's problem when he left EWTN a while back. I understand priests are men, and like all men, they can go astray. But why does a priest's fall from grace always signal a call for an end to celibacy and an insistence on permitting married clergy, or even actively gay priests? Why is the idea of repentance and discipline scrapped in favor of lobbying for the Church to compromise regulation and Tradition? (I find it interesting that amongst those who call for a married priesthood, some would like to see women ordained as well.)
.
Cutie seems to have been in favor of married priests, suggesting, "'a married priest would be just as holy' as a celibate one." (Perhaps, although I would have used 'could be as' instead of 'would be as' - but that's just me.)
.
He also seemed to have created a rather specialized ministry: "I'm not the priest for the regular Catholic crowd," he told Hispanic magazine in 2007. "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."
.
Charismatic and bilingual, Father Alberto is on a first-name basis with celebrities such as Gloria Estefan, Andy Garcia, Willy Chirino and Shakira, and he often presides over high-profile ceremonies in Miami's Cuban community. - Source
.
I think that was part of the problem, Cutie became a celebrity himself.
An astute point, Terry-- I can't think of anything that tops the list of oxymora better than "celebrity-priest" (unless saying aloud "Our Lady of Obortion" qualifies)--same insidious, uber-dangerous and satan-old human weakness: the sin of pride.
ReplyDeleteCelibacy is of holiness. I can't think of any word that tops the list of heroic virtues better than "celibacy" -- unless it is "forgiveness."
Sounds like it..
ReplyDeleteThe lost look for the little shepherd with the cross on his back.
ReplyDeleteDear Terry,
ReplyDeleteWhat about the women who chase after Priests? That is another part of this whole situation.
I know I will pray for both of them.
Pax,
Katie
Is that a photo of Fr. Cutie?
ReplyDeletePride seems to figure in too. HE decided that he was too important for the regular crowd. (Which is very different from discerning that God had called him to a particular ministry.) I wonder how much supervision he received from his ecclesiastical superiors.
ReplyDeleteI've had conversations with women who say 'Fr What-a-Waste' when they talk of a handsome priest. I tell them it would be a waste, if there was no such thing as God and He didn't start a Church. But since there is a God and He does have a Church, how can their vocation be a waste? They're doing what God called them to do.
ReplyDeleteI get sneered at a lot.
Angie - yes.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many of the folks who are in favor of married priests are ready to increase their weekly contributions so that a married priest can support wife, kids, second car, tuition, insurance, etc?
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest complaints that Catholics have about priests is that they talk about money too much.
I know from personal experience of looking in collection baskets that there are one helluva lot of one dollar bills in those baskets coming from cheapskate Catholics who don't realize that contributing to the support of the Church is a Commandment of the Church.
My Dad was a mailman in the 1950s, raising five children and a stay-at-home wife for most of it and he always put a buck a week in the basket. I know because the parishes used to publish the annual contributions of parishioners. He probably made not just more than a couple of dollars an hour. Most of the laboring men put the buck in.
Why are they still doing it fifty years later?
He's actually suppose to be on the CBS Early Morning Show on Monday.
ReplyDeleteIt seems odd that a priest who has been removed from his parish and radio show would be appearing on national television.
Whew, he's in love with her, that's hard. I hope he returns to his priesthood, married people, also commit acts of adultery, married to one, and fall in love with another--sheesh, the weakness of man. But being with her is a mistake.
ReplyDeleteHe is a priest FOREVER and I think he will be very sad in the long run, if he does not live up to his calling from God. He should renounce the woman, accept the pain of the loss of her, and return to God.
I think everyone has said it all...
ReplyDeleteFather Cutie obviously loves the limelight. That is his real calling. Maybe he'll be moving on to Hollywood. I'm sure that even with his charisma, he will not be able to change the ancient discipline of celibacy in the priesthood.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust imagine how scandalized you'd be if he were gay. Good thing it was a woman!
ReplyDeleteThomnus - I'm not really scandalized by this or the other. I bet a lot of people have wished it were the other.
ReplyDeleteIt was a general "you." It wasn't Terry-specific.
ReplyDeleteGod was being merciful in allowing Fr. Cutie to be found out. This is his wakeup call, and how else could that have come? I just hope to God he won't risk a second one.
ReplyDeleteAnd if a woman loves God or man at all, she will never cross any even possibly sinful line with a priest (nor allow one). He has disappointed the whole Church, but as noted above, he did not fall from grace alone, and it might just be that her sin is far, far greater. Many years ago, my eldest teen daughter in the church choir started getting a little too close to a summer seminarian --they were exchanging music cassettes, she was driving to his place for the next one. I put a stop to it, and yes, I hurt her feelings, but seminarians aren't being groomed for marriage. And should they ever forget that or not realize the distance needed, the laity must remind them.
It's not like fallen or errant priests don't also take their cue from everyone around them. If we're not praying for priests --the worst-tempted people in the world -- then we can't be pointing fingers at those whom we did not support in the most crucial way.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBad things happen when people cheat on God.
ReplyDelete