VOA常速英语2008年-Women Enter 'Priesthood' in Defiance of Roman C

By Jeff Swicord
Sarasota, Florida
10 April 2008
 

As Pope Benedict prepares to travel to the United States [arriving April 15th], he continues to uphold the church's long-standing tradition of not ordaining² women as priests.  Since July 2006, more than U.S. 20 women with the organization "Roman Catholic Womenpriests" have considered themselves ordained³ without church approval.  VOA's Jeff Swicord reports on one woman in Sarasota, Florida, who says it is time for the church to openly accept women into the priesthood. 

Bridget Mary Meehan is one of 24 Roman Catholic women in the United States conducting mass in defiance⁴ of church doctrine⁵.

She describes her religious journey, which started as a young girl growing up in Ireland. "We grew up in this beautiful family where prayer was as natural as breathing," she recalls.  "Every evening we prayed the family rosary, and every evening we had such a sense of God."

Meehan entered a convent at the age of 18 and became a Roman Catholic nun⁶ with the Sisters of Christian⁷ Community.  In July 2006, a woman bishop⁸ not recognized by the Vatican ordained Meehan with seven other women. 

Meehan says the Roman Catholic Church needs to be more inclusive. "I think the problem is they don't know how to integrate women into the present clerical hierarchical structure,” she said. “And that is a problem because this hierarchical clerical structure needs to be changed."

Meehan advertises her mass in the local newspaper in the southern coastal⁹ community of Sarasota, Florida.  Her home serves as her church.

The local archdiocese declined VOA's request for an on camera interview.  But the archdiocese published a letter in the local newspaper condemning¹⁰ Meehan's actions.

Arne Panula in Washington is a member of Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic organization.  He says there are reasons why women are not ordained as priests.  He says it was a man, Jesus, who stood at the alter, broke bread and said, "This is my body," a ritual that priests recreate during mass.

"The church teaches that he [the priest] does this in what is called insomnia¹¹ nomini Christa, that he does this in the name and the person of Jesus," says Panula.  "Jesus was male. Jesus was a man.  And to be able to do that as Jesus did requires that it be a man who does it."

Meehan disagrees. "A priest is suppose to be in personi Christa," she says. "That does not mean taking on male identity. It means breaking the bread and sharing the wine in the memory of Jesus as a Pascal meal."

But Panula says Jesus chose not to ordain¹ women. "Jesus Christ could have ordained women," he says.  "He could have named women to the presbyterate, in which case right now there would be women priests."

Meehan disagrees. She cites passages from the Bible and new scholarly works that retranslate the original Latin records of the Catholic Church's early days. "The ordination¹² of women - we know for the first 1,200 years women were ordained,” she said. “So therefore, the teaching on that does not reflect the practice of the church throughout its history."

Meehan says her congregation is growing. She says some members are disappointed with the direction of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in the area of gender¹³ equality. 

Cathy Kidder was attending Meehan's mass for the first time. "A lot of us have raised their children in the church and saw them learn all those wonderful traditions and heritage and belief in justice attitudes of our church," she says, "and our children have gone to other churches where they feel these things have been put into better practice."

Meehan has conducted mass since 2006.  The local archdiocese has protested her actions, but the Vatican has not sanctioned or excommunicated her.  Two women in St. Louis, Missouri have been excommunicated. 

"I think it is very wise of the Vatican right now to take a wait and see attitude, watch the movement of the spirit in the Roman Catholic Womenpriests rather than condemning us,” Meehan said. “Because, one day they just might have to undo¹⁴ their condemnation¹⁵ and canonize a few of the women in the movement.  At least that is our hope and our prayer."

1 ordain   

vi.颁发命令；vt.命令，授以圣职，注定，任命

参考例句：

• The church's ruling body voted to ordain women as priests.该教会的管理机构投票通过接纳女性为牧师。
• The essence of management refers to its internal inevitable ordain quality,and is also called ultimate attribute.管理的本质是指管理自身内在的必然的规定性，即根本属性。

2 ordaining   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的现在分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

3 ordained   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

• He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句

4 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

5 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

6 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

7 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。

8 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

9 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

10 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 insomnia   

n.失眠，失眠症

参考例句：

• Worries and tenseness can lead to insomnia.忧虑和紧张会导致失眠。
• He is suffering from insomnia.他患失眠症。

12 ordination   

n.授任圣职

参考例句：

• His ordination gives him the right to conduct a marriage or a funeral.他的晋升圣职使他有权主持婚礼或葬礼。
• The vatican said the ordination places the city's catholics in a "very delicate and difficult decision."教廷说，这个任命使得这个城市的天主教徒不得不做出“非常棘手和困难的决定”。

13 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

14 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

15 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。