Hispanic Fanatic

I’m recovering from eye surgery this week (a fun yet gruesome experience that I recommend for everyone!).

Because it gives me a headache to look at a computer screen for more than a few minutes, I’m just going to write a quick post to catch up on some items that have moved faster than the speed of blog.

First, Father Cutie has left the building. As I noted in a previous post, the Hispanic priest with a winning smile and a way with the ladies (or at least one lady) had put the Catholic Church into a tough position. Should they punish him for breaking his vow of chastity, at the risk of alienating his large Latino fan base, or should they just let it slide, thereby looking like a bunch of weak-willed moral relativists?

Well, Father Cutie made it easy on them by leaving Catholicism and joining the Episcopal Church. I don’t know anything about the teaching of Episcopalians, but they apparently allow their priests to marry, which should please Father Cutie. Actually, that should please anyone who is not totally repressed, but let’s not kick the Catholic Church while it’s down.

As an interesting side note, the archbishop of Miami said that Cutie “is still bound by his promise to live a celibate life…. Only the Holy Father can release him from that obligation.” Well, good luck with that one, archbishop, because it seems that Father Cutie released himself (so to speak) a long time ago.

Secondly, let me thank everyone who commented on my post “A Nation of Laws?” including my old friends Macon D and Raul Ramos y Sanchez. As I mentioned before, Macon D’s blog is stupendous, while Raul Ramos y Sanchez’s powerful writing has provoked the kind of crazy hate mail that I dream of receiving. Maybe I’ll get there someday.

Finally, let me add that my last piece “Some Friendly Advice,” got my biggest response to date on the Huffington Post. Thanks to everyone who commented. I am still, however, lagging in popularity behind my new nemesis Jaime Lee Curtis. So let’s get those comments flying people, so I can take down the “Trading Places” star.

But later – right now, my eyes hurt.

By now, you’ve heard about the scandal (if such a word applies) of Father Cutié. He’s the Latino priest in Florida who was recently caught with his hands stuffed in the bikini of a hottie on the beach.

Apparently, the priest has had a longtime affair with the woman, so Catholics everywhere are relieved that at least she’s a girlfriend and not a prostitute or underage minor or, of course, an altar boy.

Father Cutié has apologized for breaking his celibacy vow, and it remains to be seen what punishment the Church will dish out. This wouldn’t be big news except that the man is a young, charismatic guy with a media presence.

And of course, there’s that whole Hispanic thing.

As Time magazine points out, “America’s Catholic bishops… must realize that Cutié is more well regarded among Catholics than they are, especially among Latinos.” This means that if he’s run out of the Church, he just may take a lot of Hispanics with him.

Indeed, anecdotal evidence implies that Cutié’s parishioners are remarkably forgiving of his transgression.

“This wasn’t some dirty little tryst in the back of the parish residence,” said one of his followers. “It doesn’t appear to be just about sex. It’s about intimacy.”

I’d like to think that this newfound tolerance will show up in other areas, such as addressing the tendency of Hispanic Catholics to be homophobic and dismissive of women’s rights. But in reality, it’s not that Latino Catholics are finally saying, “Let’s lighten up with the arbitrary rules and be more understanding of human nature.” It’s probably just because male Catholics relate to the temptation that Cutié endured, and a lot of Latina Catholics think the guy is hot.

Regardless of the shallowness of its origin, however, it would indeed be ironic if the Catholic Church inched toward some kind of progressive stance because its Hispanic base got fired up.

And that has to be on the mind of the Church’s leaders. Time magazine goes on to point out that “a bigger problem for the Church may be Cutié’s Oprah-like standing in the Latino community — the only demographic where U.S. Catholicism is experiencing growth.”

That’s right. Hispanics, as I’ve pointed out many times before, are the present and future of the Catholic Church. Although I dropped out of the Church long ago, I still find it interesting that Latinos have such power over this massive institution.

Now if only we could spread some of that influence to politics, economic matters, pop culture, and social policy. Then we would be on to something.