Celibacy questions haunt scandalized Miami priest
He is the priest with the girlfriend, caught by paparazzi on a Miami beach and now caught, he says, between love for a woman and his church.
Only the Rev. Alberto Cutie, a celebrity among Hispanic Catholics for his good looks, media savvy and advice about relationships, can’t have both. As Cutie decides between clerical collar and wedding ring, he is sure of one thing: He doesn’t want to be “the anti-celibacy priest.”
The scandal enveloping Cutie since compromising photos of the couple hit the press May 5 has jump-started conversation about mandatory celibacy for priests.
But among Hispanic Catholics in the U.S., there is little appetite to change the status quo, polls show. That’s significant because it differs from the views of more liberal white Catholics – and because Hispanic Catholics are a fast-growing demographic reshaping the U.S. church.
Hispanic Catholic opinions on celibacy and the Cutie soap opera provide a glimpse at some of the community’s values. Among them: a respect for authority but tolerance when someone falls short and a machismo culture and love for family that both colors attitudes toward the priesthood and dissuades many Hispanic men from taking the vow.