Father Cutie

So, Father Alberto Cutie was caught frolicking on a beach with *gasp!* a woman. Yep, Father Cutie, a Catholic priest, photographed canoodling with a woman. The archdiocese immediately relieved him of his duties at his church. Interesting - I could've sworn they would usher him off to a different congregation in a different town like they did with the priests who were caught molesting innocent children. But no, they instead take his duties away for carrying on with a consenting adult. I don't understand how the punishment for breaking one's vows can vary so wildly. Perhaps it's because the object of Father Cuties affection is a divorced woman?? Certainly we all know how the Catholic church feels about divorce... He, of course, would like to have his cake and eat it, too - he wants to remain a priest until he dies, and wants to stay in this relationship. Who can blame him?

But could the church's requirements be more backward? So often, people are told to seek the counsel of their priest when in times of crisis. Could a priest who has benefited from being married and / or having children be better equipped to assist parishioners with marital / family / relationship issues? And what's so bloody awful about progressing forward and adapting to the changing world to serve your parishioners (and ambassadors / employees, for that matter) instead of trying to fit them back into archaic molds of behavior and so-called morality?

So many years of Catholicism... I wonder if the recovery will ever be complete, or if, like so many struggles, it will remain a constant, always in need of attention? No, by the way, it wasn't all bad. There were a lot of benefits to being raised "in the church," but I believe most of those benefits would've existed regardless - time with family, time with friends, reinforced moral code - I've had a lot of positive influences in my life, and church served as a location for some of those influences to congregate. I still like to think that without church, there would have been some other avenue for that to happen.