VOA标准英语2009年-Conservative Anglican Priests Consider Off

By Jennifer Glasse
London
09 November 2009

 
Pope Benedict XVI, 28 Jan 2009
The Vatican has offered to allow conservative Anglican clergy¹ to join a special section of the Catholic Church. They would be able to retain the Anglican liturgy² and a married priesthood. Some Anglican clergymen feel alienated³ by changes in their church over the past few years. In Britain the schism⁴ is mostly over women priests and gay marriage.

Some of Britain's Anglican churches have always resembled Catholic ones, with high masses full of pomp and ceremony.

Recently, some Anglican clergy, unhappy with the Church of England, have been making overtures⁵ to Rome.

The Reverend John Broadhurst, the bishop⁶ of Fulham, is one of them. He says the Anglican Church is facing challenges. "Its very divided about women priests and women bishops⁷, its very divided about homosexuality, its very divided over marriage and divorce," Reverend Broadhurst said.

Now, Pope Benedict has made an offer to Anglican clergy around the world.

"If you want to be Anglican but in unity⁸ with Rome, you're welcome. That's the real change because in the past you had to become a Roman Catholic and therefore it's culturally rather different," Reverend Broadhurst says, "He's now saying Anglicans, provided they agree on doctrine⁹, can come into unity with Rome."

Anglican clergymen accepting the offer would recognize the Pope as their leader, but still be able to keep parts of their faith, such as marriage. Anglican priests would be ordained¹⁰ as Catholics, but Anglican bishops would not.

In Britain's Anglican Church, the decision to allow women to be ordained as priests fueled a rift¹¹.

 
Reverend Miranda Threllfell-Holmes
Reverend Miranda Threllfell-Holmes is Chaplain of University College Durham. She says only a small minority of Anglican clergy objects. "There's just a few hundred people [clergy] who for some reason simply can't accept that women can represent God in the same way as a man can," she said.

The Reverend says it's just a matter of time until women are allowed to be Anglican bishops. "People say well Jesus didn't have, he appointed 12 male apostles, but they forget about people like Mary Magdalene, who was the first witness to the resurrection and called, even in Catholic spirituality, the Apostle to the Apostles," she explains, "because she was the first person who brought the news of the resurrection to the apostles."

Some pro-Catholic Anglican clergymen say hundreds of priests may accept the Vatican's offer. That's a small minority.

And, here in Britain, many details need to be worked out, such as who will pay the priests and where will they live and worship. Right now they do that on Church of England property.

There's also the question of what other churches will decide. Many Anglican churches in Africa are conservative and could welcome the offer. Anglicans in the U.S., comprised mostly of Episcopalians, are already sharply divided, mainly over homosexuals in the clergy.

1 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

2 liturgy   

n.礼拜仪式

参考例句：

• A clergyman read the liturgy from the prayer-book.一名牧师照着祈祷书念祷文。
• The mass is the church a kind of liturgy.弥撒是教会的一种礼拜仪式。

3 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 schism   

n.分派，派系，分裂

参考例句：

• The church seems to be on the brink of schism.教会似乎处于分裂的边缘。
• While some predict schism,others predict a good old fashioned compromise.在有些人预测分裂的同时，另一些人预测了有益的老式妥协。

5 overtures   

n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲

参考例句：

• Their government is making overtures for peace. 他们的政府正在提出和平建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship. 最近他开始主动表示友好，样子笨拙却又招人喜爱。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 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。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 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。

10 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

11 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。