‘Father Oprah’ changes pulpits

The Rev. Alberto Cutie is on his way to becoming an Episcopal priest.

BISCAYNE PARK, Fla. — Rev. Alberto Cutie stood and tried to say hello. Then came the standing ovation.

More than 300 people rose to their feet and clapped. A few cheered. Several held cameras in the air, as though at a rock concert, capturing every moment.

Last Sunday, inside the tiny Episcopalian Church of the Resurrection, the priest nicknamed “Father Oprah” gave his first sermon since famously leaving the Roman Catholic Church after published photographs showed him nuzzling a woman on a Florida beach.

Unlike Catholicism, Episcopalian priests can marry. Cutie looked out at the crowd and said, “I am humbled by your presence here.”

Meanwhile, his former church in Miami Beach continued to grapple with the departure of Cutie, who gained media fame across the Spanish-speaking world doling out relationship advice on television, radio and in print.

At his new church, Cutie delivered a sermon that spoke of common themes — God’s love, faith and perseverance — with a few lighter moments referring to his leaving the Catholic church thrown in.

At one point, Cutie spoke of a sea captain lost at sea for so long he ran out of water for his crew. Then another ship came by and told the ship’s crew to lower their buckets. The captain thought this was crazy.

Except, it turns out, the ship had wandered into an area with fresh water.

It was a theme he returned to several times — the love of God is all around. But first we must lower our buckets.

During another part of his sermon, Cutie referred to a note, one he didn’t have with him at the moment because, “right now my stuff is in storage.”

The crowd laughed and he continued, “They didn’t give me much time to pack.”

Cutie closed his sermon saying, “Church is about living in the spirit of God, and the spirit of God is love.”

What followed was more clapping and more picture taking. The hall, which held about 300, overflowed with people, with latecomers forced to stand. For most, this was their first time at the tiny, Earth-toned church, which recently had struggled to the point other Episcopal congregations were asked to help.

Those worries seemed to be washed away on Sunday, thanks to the followers of Cutie.

Among them was Fabio Gomez, 61, of Miami Beach, who said he hadn’t been inside a church for five years. But he came on Sunday and sat in one of the last seats available, all the way in the back.

He came “to show my support for Father Alberto to keep going with the church.”

Afterward, Cutie spoke with churchgoers in a separate luncheon area where parishioners treated him like a rock star of sorts. They hugged him. They kissed him. They posed with him for photographs.

By his side was his girlfriend, Ruhama Buni Canellis, 35, whom he introduced as his fiancee. The couple left through a back door, escorted by police.

After the service, Bishop Leo Frade, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida, said Cutie had approached the Episcopalian church months before the pictures were published. Cutie did so, Frade said, because the priest realized he had begun to think like an Episcopalian.