When is a matter a ''scandal?'' What if it involves two adults doing nothing unlawful or offensive? Jim and Mary kissed on a beach, for example. Or Jim and Jim.

What if Jim is an ordinary parish priest? His kissing on a beach is an indiscretion, and a violation of church law. But is it a ``scandal''?

You know where I am headed: What if Jim is a famous priest, is, in fact, Father Alberto Cutié?

''A Celebrity Priest's Scandal in the Sand'' read the front-page headline the first day of the story. The story stayed on Page One for the next five days, and the word ''scandal'' appeared throughout.

Scandal-like adjectives were sprinkled throughout the text. In last Sunday's story alone, the priest -- ''sometimes known as Father Hottie'' -- was caught in a ''liplock'' on the beach in ''spicy'' photos. He was said to be in a ''love affair'' and living a ``doozy of a midlife crisis.''

Some readers complained. ''I am appalled by The Miami Herald's sensationalistic coverage of this story,'' wrote Carlos Martinez Luis of Miami.

BREATHLESS

In general, I don't think that The Herald's coverage of Father Cutié has been sensationalistic. But I do think that it got breathless and, as days went by, treated him like an object instead of an individual with rights of privacy, perspective and respect. In other words, the Herald got used to treating him as a public ``scandal.''

Some readers opposed reporting the story altogether. I don't think that there was any choice but to report it once the Spanish-language magazine, TVNotas, plastered the photos of the priest and his girlfriend -- for lack of a better word -- on its cover, and both the church and Father Cutié issued statements.

The photos, taken by a vulture paparazzi, were never offered to The Herald, Executive Editor Anders Gyllenhaal told me. But he said he would not have bought them and would not have pursued the story had the statements not made it a public issue. The priest's personal relationship by itself ''is not the kind of journalism we are interested in,'' Gyllenhaal said.

''Of course, there are sensational elements of this story, but what the paper has been doing is both covering a powerful and emotional story and looking into some of the other important issues it raises,'' Gyllenhaal said. ``Not a day goes by when we're not flooded with letters about issues like loyalty, oaths, love and celibacy.''

By the standards of our celebrity-saturated culture, the gossip-magazine language in some of The Herald's stories is pretty tame. But the matter is still not a ''scandal.'' The priest didn't rob, kill or cheat taxpayers. There was no crime. The girlfriend, whom he claims to love, has been identified as a 35-year old divorced mother. No bimbo, no teenage girl, no young boy.

The priest proved merely to be human, and the public in a poll commissioned by The Herald itself has been overwhelmingly supportive of him.

''It's a reasonable question whether scandal is the right word,'' Gyllenhaal said in retrospect.

Many in the media are now hounding the girlfriend. The Herald repeats her supposed name. Gyllenhaal said the paper has been trying to interview her, but acknowledged that she has a right to privacy. He said that the paper would leave her alone if she does not want to talk. I hope so.

Manny Garcia, editor of El Nuevo Herald, told me that readers complained when a Spanish story referred to the girlfriend as an ''amante,'' or lover. Readers saw that as prejudicial against the woman. He agrees that they were right. I do, too.

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