教皇弗朗西斯首次非洲访问

AS IT IS 2015-11-23 Pope Francis Makes First Africa Visit 教皇弗朗西斯首次非洲访问

Pope Francis will make his first trip to Africa on November 25 to 30, visiting Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

The Vatican said the pope had been invited by the heads of state and local bishops¹ to visit each of those countries.

Africa is home to the fastest-growing number of Catholics in the world. The number of Catholics in Africa grew to 200 million people in 35 years. That is a 238 percent increase.

At the same time, the number of Catholics in Europe increased by just 6 percent, says a new study, called “Global Catholicism: Trends and Forecasts.” It was published by the Center for Applied² Research in the Apostolate, or CARA, in Washington, D.C.  

Pope Francis became the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and Vatican in March 2013. Since then, he has shaken the Catholic Church with his progressive views. He has been less conservative on issues like homosexuality and divorce.

Pope Francis has talked about fewer restrictions³ on divorced Catholics. He has spoken about possible support for married priests. And he has urged a greater role for women and more compassion⁴ for homosexual people.

In Africa, his views will please some people and offend others.

Tsoholofelo Legodi, a 21-year-old member of Johannesburg’s largest Catholic Church, Regina Mundi. She is a big fan of Pope Francis.

“I love him!” she said.

Rodgers Mwendwa, a recent university graduate in Kenya, was also looking forward to the pope’s visit:

“Actually, we are waiting for a message of hope from Pope, from how he conducts himself. I think he will bring a good impact and a positive attitude to the people, and we should embrace what he’s bringing to Kenyans because he’s our role model.”

Pope Francis will arrive in Nairobi on November 25.

In the past decade, a few groups of Catholic priests have married in Kenya. Pope Francis has not endorsed⁵ this. But he said the Vatican is looking into the issue of married priests.

Samuel Gitau is a member of Nairobi’s Holy Family Minor⁶ Basilica. He does not believe that priests should marry:

“When they marry, I feel they will not be able to concentrate in the church affairs, yeah.”

It is homosexuality that may generate the most controversy⁷ for Pope Francis in Africa. The pope said that marriage should remain an institution between a man and a woman. But he has not ruled out civil unions.

And he has urged love and mercy for homosexuals.

Kenya, however, outlines its position clearly on this issue: Homosexuality is illegal there.

Church members say they do not agree with Pope Francis on this issue.

Adenaide Tendwa is a member of Nairobi’s Holy Family Minor Basilica:

“Homosexuality shouldn’t be there, because at the first, in the book, in the Bible we read, we need to get married and bring up children. Now when you bring homosexuality, that one will not be having a family.”

Still, Catholics in Kenya said they are ready to set differences aside.

Josephine Kivuva is a church usher⁸. “When the pope gives us direction, we need to follow it, according to the tradition of the church.”

Words in This Story

bishops – n. an official in some Christian⁹ religions who is ranked higher than a priest and who is usually in charge of church matters in a specific geographical¹⁰ area

Vatican – n. the government of the Roman Catholic Church

homosexuality – n. the act of being sexually attracted to people of the same gender¹¹

divorce – n. the ending of a marriage by a legal process

priests – n. a person who has the authority to lead or perform ceremonies in some religions and especially in some Christian religions

compassion – n. a feeling of wanting to help someone who is sick, hungry, in trouble, etc.

forecasts – n.  to say that (something) will happen in the future : to predict (something, such as weather) after looking at the information that is available

impact – n. a powerful or major influence or effect

embrace – v. to accept (something or someone) readily or gladly

endorsed – v. to publicly or officially say that you support or approve of (someone or something)

concentrate – v. to think about something : to give your attention to the thing you are doing, reading, etc.

civil unions – noun phrase  a legal relationship between two people of the same sex that gives them some of the same rights and responsibilities that married people have

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 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

5 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

7 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

8 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

9 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。

10 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

11 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。