Watch Out Father Alberto!!

Myriam Marquez delivers serious verbal haymakers to Alberto Cutié, his girlfriend and Episcopal Bishop Leo Frade. Although Marquez was, in my opinion, quite heavy-handed in her approach, I agree with most of the underlying sentiments.

A sample from her column:

What irks isn't so much Cutié's struggle to reconcile his desires as a man and his vows of celibacy as a priest or that he chose carnal knowledge over celestial approval, it's the way this sordid affair came down. The scandal not only damaged the Catholic church, it diminished Cutié's reputation among many of his followers who are true-blue Catholics. He hurt them.

And, yes, I know that there have been worse scandals in the church involving sexual abuse of boys and decades of denial by church leaders -- a disgrace that hurt Catholics, even bad ones like me, much more. But to excuse Cutié's lies for two years because he was in love -- lust? -- with a gal gives him a pass on his responsibility as a spiritual leader. He had choices to make and he sure took his sweet time to make them.