MIAMI, (Reuters) – A former Roman Catholic priest and media celebrity who left the Catholic Church last month after he was photographed cuddling a woman on a Florida beach has married his girlfriend, local media reported yesterday.
Alberto Cutie, 40, who joined the Episcopal Church after the photos scandal stoked debate over the Catholic celibacy requirement for priests, married 35-year-old Ruhama Buni Canellis on Tuesday in a civil ceremony, the Miami Herald reported.
The couple avoided photographers and news crews when they were married by a judge in Miami’s Coral Gables district.
Cutie, born in Puerto Rico of Cuban parents, was a charismatic preacher and religious celebrity well known locally as “Padre Alberto.” He became embroiled in a media frenzy last month after a Spanish-language entertainment magazine published photos of him in swim trunks, cuddling and kissing a woman on the sands of a beach in Florida.
He previously dispensed relationship advice on Spanish-language television shows, church radio programs and newspaper columns.
