HispanicBusiness

The celebrity priest from Miami whose fame turned to shame when photos captured him entangled with a woman on the beach, admitted Monday on CBS's Early Show that they'd had a two-year affair.

The Rev. Alberto Cutie, who lost his church and radio show last week after the release of the photos, also said while he still believes in celibacy for priests, he thinks it should be optional.

"I do believe that people should be given the option to marry or not to marry in order to serve God," he said. "But the Church, see, has tradition and practices that are part of wanting to do what is right. I think we've all have ideals, and we have ways of living, and we want to do things right. But the truth is, sometimes we fall short. And I fell short."

Known by some as "Father Oprah," the 40-year-old Cuban-American priest was the head of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Miami Beach, as well as president of Radio Paz and Radio Peace, Catholic 24-hour radio stations run by the diocese.

On the show, Cutie said he and the woman are in love, and did have sex.

Now, he said he must decide whether fulfill her desire to get married.

Although Cutie said he believes the celibacy oath should be optional, he was contrite for having broken it.

"I don't want to be the anti-celibacy priest," he said. "I think that's unfortunate. I think it's a debate that's going on in our society, and now I've become kind of a poster boy for it. But I don't want to be that. I believe that celibacy is good, and that it's a good commitment to God. This is something I've struggled with. And something that I never expected to become a public debate."

Last week, many of his supporters held a rally for him in front of his Miami Beach church.

The photos ran in TVnotas, which featured the priest in blue shorts, lying on his back next to a woman in a bathing suit on Miami Beach. One of the roughly two dozen images -- which were taken over a three-day period -- shows them kissing.