BY LYDIA MARTIN

Charming, hip and part of an influential Miami inner circle that includes celebrities, TV news personalities and slick power brokers, Father Alberto Cutié has always appeared to navigate with ease the disparate worlds of clergy and society.

''He was very comfortable at a party,'' said nightlife fixture Gingi Beltran, a real estate agent who regularly attended Cutié's Sunday evening Mass at St. Francis de Sales on South Beach. ``But he didn't drink. And you never got a sex vibe from him. If anything, maybe when he was in the room he would calm the situation. He's a very serious priest who demanded a lot of respect.''

But now everyone knows: Father Albert -- sometimes known as ''Father Hottie'' for his dashing good looks -- is in love. And he's not sorry.

The scandal that will likely lead to his leaving the priesthood may sound like a telenovela script, spurred by a Mexican magazine's publication of spicy photos of the priest getting cozy with a bikini-clad woman on a Miami beach. It may even catapult him to greater fame. But the charismatic priest who has never been shy about the spotlight didn't plan any of this, he says.

Not his rise to the kind of celebrity that prompted paparazzi to trail him like he was Tom Cruise. And not the fact that at 40, he's having a doozy of a midlife crisis in front of the media and the public.

''Falling in love is not something that I chose to do. It's something I have been struggling with for a long time,'' Cutié told The Miami Herald Friday, at the end of a week of seclusion, prayer and tough talks with Miami Archbishop John Favalora and other church leaders.

But now those telling snapshots are out there, the priest -- a star of radio and TV talk shows -- is offering the kind of plain language that has been the cornerstone of his popularity with millions of Spanish-speaking fans across the United States and Latin America.

He says he wants to get married and start a family.

''This is not something that happened on the beach casually, with no seriousness to the relationship. That's not the image I wanted portrayed,'' Cutié said.

Cutié said he met his girlfriend -- whom he has not directly named but has been identified in media reports as Ruhama Buni Canellis, 35, a divorced mother living in South Beach -- nearly 10 years ago. He was smitten from the moment he laid eyes on her.

MUTUAL ATTRACTION

''We have been friends for a long time. And there has been mutual admiration and attraction for a while, but the more serious relationship started in the last few months,'' Cutié said. The photos of them on the beach were taken in February, he said. "She didn't come out of the blue. But we had respect for each other's condition. She is a faithful Catholic woman.''

Whether at a soiree hosted by Gloria and Emilio Estefan, or some other glitzy South Beach event, Cutié cut a handsome figure with his gelled hair, gleaming smile and smooth black suits.

And he regularly popped up in places where you wouldn't expect to see a priest. Last Saturday night, before the scandal broke, Cutié was spotted with a woman who looked very much like Canellis. They kept their hands off each other while dining with an older woman at Barton G., a South Beach restaurant that has attracted Tom Cruise, Will Smith and a pack of other stars.

As a household name in the Spanish world, Padre Alberto was more than aware that when he was out and about, all eyes were on him. This has driven many to speculate that perhaps the priest, at least subconsciously, wanted to get caught when he acted like an infatuated schoolboy on a public beach.

''If you ask me, did I do it consciously, I certainly did not,'' Cutié said. "But sometimes this kind of crisis puts you in a situation where you want to let it all out. Maybe that's true.''

The Cuban-American kid from Kendall, who always took his Catholic studies seriously, deejayed at house parties in his teens and entered the seminary at 18. He didn't have a big-picture vision for his future, besides remaining a celibate priest for the rest of his life. He nevertheless emerged as a leading spiritual voice for the Hispanic community by the time he was in his 30s.

In 1999, just four years after his ordination, the Spanish-language television network Telemundo picked him from 500 priests across the country to be the star of an afternoon talk show with a clever twist: The guy hearing those embarrassing Springeresque tales was also a man of the cloth.

He didn't even head his own church yet, but arguably, he already was on his way to becoming Miami's best-known priest.

In 2003, when salsa queen Celia Cruz died, he was called on to lead her funeral Mass at Gesú Catholic Church. During the solemn event, packed with friends, family and journalists from around the globe, Cutié imagined Cruz already in heaven, named director of the heavenly choirs by St. Peter.

''But for St. Peter, the problems have started because the angels are accustomed to singing Gregorian chants. But now they have to learn Quimbara, cumbara, cumba quimbamba!,'' he sang, breaking into one of Cruz's most famous rumbas. The crowd burst into laughter and applause.

''He knows how to reach people,'' said Omer Pardillo, Cruz's manager until her death.

When Cruz was in Miami, she loved attending Padre Alberto's Masses at St. Patrick's on Miami Beach. So did Shakira and other Latin stars. It wasn't long before Cutié was a star himself.

''Several years ago, we were in the Dominican Republic for a concert celebrating Johnny Ventura's 45 years in the music business,'' Pardillo said. 'And the fans just swamped him. Celia said to him, joking, `I think you have more fans than I do.' ''

As Cutié's profile grew, it may have looked to some like he was more interested in playing a priest on TV than doing the everyday work of a humble man of God. But followers say he did roll up his sleeves for his community.

Twice he was called in to repair damage at parishes that had lost priests amid accusations of sexual abuse: First he helped mend things as interim priest at San Isidro in Pompano Beach and then he was assigned to permanently lead the rundown St. Francis de Sales Church on South Beach.

From the moment he stepped into St. Francis in 2005, he packed the empty pews, and with the collection plate finally coming back full, he refurbished those pews and the rest of the church. As director of the Archdiocese's media arm, Cutié reportedly ran a tight ship and beefed up audiences at religious radio stations Radio Paz (WACC-AM 830) and Radio Peace (WLVJ-AM 1040).

COLLOQUIAL SERMONS

Perhaps more importantly, Cutié's modern, down-to-earth and approachable manner helped to bring back into the fold many folks who had grown weary of the church's traditional ways. He spoke colloquially during his sermons and wasn't the kind of priest who admonished parishioners for living in the real world.

In the process of counseling couples about to get married, he has matter-of-factly said: ``Look at the person sitting next to you. If you are not having the best sex of your life, they may not be the right person for you.''

''With Father Albert, you never felt like you were being lectured to. His ability to communicate and to motivate are his gifts,'' said Peter Catalano, 57, an architect and developer who with wife Dana has attended Masses at St. Francis for about six years. ``I was drifting in terms of being connected to the church. Until he came along.''

The Catalanos, who do not speak Spanish, had no idea who Cutié was when he took over at St. Francis.

''The church was in really bad condition. And there were maybe three people at Mass on Sunday, but all of a sudden after he got there, the place was packed,'' Peter said. "There were cats living outside. There was the smell of urine when you came in. Now the grounds are impeccable, the iron bars have been removed from the windows, the marble has been restored and the crucifix that was wooden and 18-inches high is now a six-foot monumental piece. And he has run the church very transparently.''

The Archdiocese, which has issued few statements on the matter, stripped him of duties at both St. Francis and the radio stations but said it was ultimately up to Cutié to leave or remain in the priesthood. His advice column, which ran weekly in El Nuevo Herald, was also halted.

Though some Catholics have lambasted Cutié and the local church has had harsh words about his breaking of his vows, many fans have rallied around the priest, prompting a renewed debate over the church's strict policy of celibacy.

Says lawyer and Cuban political activist Joe Garcia, who was a parishioner at St. Patrick's when Cutié was a priest there:

"When he gave a sermon, he moved in front of the altar and his persona took over the room. Before today we thought of him as perfect. We thought of him as good-looking, charismatic, filled with God's grace and a good friend to anyone who had a problem. What we know about Father Albert today is that he is human.''

Cutié had argued publicly, even before the scandal, that celibacy should be a choice, not a mandate. While he issued a statement earlier in the week asking ''for the forgiveness of those who may be hurt or saddened by my actions,'' on Friday he told Univisión: "I will never say I'm sorry for loving a woman.''

But he knows he should have handled things differently.

''I wish I had spoken to people plainly and not waited so long,'' he told The Miami Herald. "But I was going through a huge dilemma. I had to deal with all of the inner conflict. And I was committed to my work and my projects and I didn't want to just shut all of that off.''

DAMAGE CONTROL

Being no ordinary priest, Cutié has no doubt been working on some high-end damage control. After all, some of his best friends are among the city's most successful spin doctors. He has an unofficial spokesman, the plugged-in Jorge Plasencia, CEO of the Miami marketing firm Republica.

Talk show star Cristina Saralegui and husband/manager Marcos Avila have been helping Cutié -- who officiated at their daughter's wedding and baptized their grandson -- through the crisis.

And days before he was ready to break his silence, buddy Emilio Estefan, who advised him closely throughout the week, spoke for him, hinting at the direction Cutié might take:

''He's very much in love,'' Estefan told The Miami Herald. "And he doesn't want to live a double life. Love is magic. Sometimes we don't look for it but it finds us anyway. I wasn't looking to fall in love with Gloria when I did. And she has been the love of my life for 30 years. People have lost fortunes and kingdoms over love. My advice to him is that love is the most beautiful thing in the world and that he should not deny it.''

But now comes the tough task of remaking his life.

''I would like to have a family and at the same time serve God,'' Cutié said. "I have friends -- Episcopalian bishops, Baptists, friends in the American Bible Society -- and they have shown me that it is possible to do both.''

Cutié says he's going to take time to reflect on what his next steps should be.

''There are so many things I would love to do,'' he said. "I would love to get a license in family and marriage counseling. I would love to teach. I would first seek God's direction.''

As for the spotlight, he doesn't plan to hide from it.

"I'm not going to make that the center of my life, but if that's in God's plan for the future, I'm open to it if I can help people. A lot of people have fought their demons in public and gone through scandals and have become examples that life can change for the better.''

He feels terrible for letting down his community, he said. But he's heartened by the showering of support he has received.

OPEN-MINDED

"I have always tried to be a nonjudgmental person who is open-minded and has tried to help everyone, regardless of their situation. I think if I had been a different way, it would be harder for people now to forgive me.''

Cutié is especially grateful for the way his mother greeted the shocking news.

''My mom is doing well,'' said Cutié, who has one older and one younger sister. His father, a mechanical engineer, died of cancer at 54, while Cutié was studying to become a priest. 'When I told her `I love this woman,' she told me the same thing she did when I was in high school and decided to go into the seminary. She said, 'If this is what makes you happy, be happy.' ''

Indeed, he is.

"The litmus test for happiness is whether there is peace in your heart. And there cannot be peace in your heart when you are leading a double life. Even with everything that I am going through, I'm very happy. I'm at peace.''