罗马天主教主教会议讨论家庭问题

AS IT IS 2015-10-24 Roman Catholic Synod Considering Family Issues 罗马天主教主教会议讨论家庭问题

“Who am I to judge?” Pope Francis once said in answer to a question about a gay priest. The pope made the comment in 2013, four months into the start of his leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. His answer launched a debate on the church’s teachings and direction for one billion Catholics worldwide.

This month, the Pope opened a Synod of Bishops¹ to discuss family issues. The 270 bishops have gathered for the past three weeks to discuss church teachings on homosexuality, marriage and divorce. They also have been discussing the Christian² observance of holy communion.

The bishops are to carefully choose every word and vote on each paragraph. They will then present a document to Pope Francis of their discussion of the church’s teachings on Saturday.

The pope can publish the document or he can just ignore it. He can also use the document as a basis to write his own papal letter.

Last October, Pope Francis published the complete document from the first meeting of the synod. He also published three other paragraphs on the issue of homosexuality, divorces and civil marriage outside the church. The Pope also called on Roman Catholics to become more forgiving with respect to family life.

Father Thomas Reese is a Jesuit priest and writes commentaries for the National Catholic Reporter. He wrote that the synod is still divided on the same issues. Many conservative bishops are against giving communion to people who married without the church’s approval. The more liberal bishops want the church to stop using the term “intrinsically disordered” to describe homosexuality.

Archbishop Charles Chaput recently welcomed the Pope at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Archbishop Chaput is among the leading conservative bishops at the synod. He said to the Catholic news site Crux³, “I think it’s probably good for the Church to put that on the shelf for a while, until we get over the negativity related to it.” He added, “That language automatically sets people off and probably isn’t useful anymore.”

Australian Archbishop Mark Coleridge spoke⁴ to reporters from the Vatican on Monday. "I don't think we're ever going to get consensus⁵ on some of these hot-button issues,” he said. “One thing that is certain about next Sunday is that we won't have finished the task. This journey will continue."

Many observers of the Catholic Church believe that the meeting will end where it began. They suspect there will be no changes on the church’s teachings on homosexuality, communion and divorced Catholics.

Others believe a change in language could have the same effect as the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. The council did not change the church’s teachings, but opened the door for a more inclusive Catholic church.

For his part, Pope Francis has already declared a “Holy Year of Mercy” last month. The pope is urging clergymen to forgive women of the “sin of abortion⁶” during the year. Under this policy, women who decided⁷ to end a pregnancy⁸ may continue to practice their religious beliefs in a formal manner. They can receive sacraments, like communion, and take part in church ceremonies.

Words in This Story

gay – adj. showing a sexual desire for someone of the same sex

priest – n. clergyman

synod – n. an official meeting of religious leaders

homosexuality – n. the sexual behavior between members of the same sex

communion – n. the Christian religious service at which bread and wine, or grape juice, are served

paragraph – n. a self-contained area in a report or story

shelf – idiom. to postpone⁹ or delay something

automatically – adj. done by machine

consensus – n. general agreement

hot-button – adj. an issue that is highly charges, emotionally or politically

certain – adj. known for sure

abortion – n. an operation for ending a pregnancy

practice – n. a custom or repeated exercise

formal – adj. officially recognized or approved

sacraments – n. a activity that is considered important among Christians

1 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 crux   

adj.十字形；难事，关键，最重要点

参考例句：

• The crux of the matter is how to comprehensively treat this trend.问题的关键是如何全面地看待这种趋势。
• The crux of the matter is that attitudes have changed.问题的要害是人们的态度转变了。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

6 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

9 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。