Nation in brief: ‘Father Oprah’ joins Episcopalians

A popular priest known as “Father Oprah” has left the Roman Catholic Church and joined the Episcopal Church less than a month after a tabloid published photos of him cavorting on the beach with his girlfriend.

On Thursday, the Rev. Alberto Cutie held a news conference at the pulpit of the Episcopal Church’s Trinity Cathedral. Standing behind him: the Episcopal bishop, a half-dozen Episcopal priests and his girlfriend.

Cutie quoted from the book of Psalms and said, “More than ever, I’m assured that God is love.”

He was removed from his Miami Beach Catholic church after photos of him smooching and embracing a woman appeared in the pages of a Spanish-language magazine earlier this month.

Richmond, Va.

Nader blasts ex-DNC chairman

Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader went public Thursday with an allegation that Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe offered him campaign money to stay off the ballot in key states during the 2004 elections.

“Terry McAuliffe is slipperier than an eel in olive oil,” Nader said in an interview.

He said McAuliffe, who was the Democratic National Committee chairman at the time, had offered Nader’s campaign an unspecified amount of money, believed to be party funds, to spend in 31 states in exchange for an agreement to withdraw from 19 battleground states where he could potentially hurt Democrat John Kerry.

The allegation – which McAuliffe has not disputed – is the latest attempt to suggest that the candidate’s lengthy career as a confidant to President Bill Clinton and top party fundraiser could now be a political liability.

From wire reports