英格蘭國教新規允許女性擔任主教

LONDON — The Church of England overturned centuries of tradition on Monday with a final vote allowing women to become bishops, with the first appointments possible by Christmas.

倫敦——英格蘭國教會(Church of England)週一通過最終投票，推翻了一個有着幾百年歷史的傳統，允許女性擔任主教。首批女主教的任命可能會在聖誕節前。

Approval of the historic change, which was first agreed to in July, was announced after a largely symbolic show of hands at the General Synod, the lawmaking body of the Church of England. The British Parliament supported the measure last month.

英格蘭國教會的立法機構總議會(General Synod)在進行了很大程度上是象徵性的舉手表決後，宣佈通過了這一具有歷史意義的變革。這項變革是在7月達成一致的。上月，英國議會對這一舉措表示支持。

“Today we can begin to embrace a new way of being the church and moving forward together,” the archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, said after the vote.

“今天，我們將迎來一種新的教會模式，並攜手前行，”坎特伯雷大主教賈斯汀·韋爾比(Justin Welby)在投票結束後說。

Two decades after the first female priest was ordained, the issue of women taking senior roles in the church hierarchy remains divisive. As recently as 2012, the proposal had been defeated by six votes.

在首位女性被任命爲牧師20年後，女性在教會層級中擔任高級職務這個問題，依然存在分歧。就在2012年，這一提議還因反對方多出六票而未能通過。

But Archbishop Welby, the spiritual leader of the church and the global Anglican Communion, who supported the vote from the start, had warned fellow church leaders this year that the public would find the exclusion of women “almost incomprehensible.”

英格蘭國教會和全球聖公宗(Anglican Communion)的精神領袖韋爾比大主教從一開始就支持該提議。他今年告誡教會的其他領袖，民衆會認爲將女性排除在外“幾乎無法理解”。

On Monday, however, he acknowledged that a split in the worldwide Anglican community was now a serious possibility. “Without prayer and repentance, it is hard to see how we can avoid some serious fractures,” he said.

然而，韋爾比大主教週一承認，全球聖公宗現在很有可能會發生分裂。“如果不祈禱和悔過，很難看清我們如何才能避免一些嚴重的分裂，”他說。

The change involves the addition of a sentence to Canon 33, stating: “A man or a woman may be consecrated to the office of bishop.”

這一改變將讓第33條教規新增一句話，註明：“男女皆可被任命爲主教。”

Half a dozen British dioceses may soon appoint new bishops, including Oxford, Gloucester and Newcastle. Southwell and Nottingham are reportedly already considering applications from women, with a first appointment might be made before the year’s end. Last month, the church floated the idea that affirmative action could be used to ordain underrepresented female bishops.

包括牛津、格洛斯特和紐卡斯爾在內的六個主教教區可能很快就會任命新主教。據報道，紹斯韋爾和諾丁漢已在考慮來自女性的申請。首位女主教的任命或許會在年底之前進行。上月，教會提出了一個觀點，即可以採取積極行動，任命未被充分代表的女性爲主教。

One faction within the Church of England that opposes women as bishops is a conservative evangelical group called Reform. Arguing that “the divine order of male headship” makes it “inappropriate” for women to lead dioceses, Reform claims that at least a quarter of the church will find this incompatible with their beliefs.

英格蘭國教會內部反對女性擔任主教的派別之一，是一個保守的福音派團體，被稱作改革宗(Reform)。該團體稱，“男性佔領導地位的神聖旨意”決定了女性“不宜”領導主教教區，並表示至少四分之一的教衆會覺得此舉有違他們的信仰。

But Monday’s vote was welcomed by longstanding campaigners like the Very Rev. Jane Hedges, the first female dean of Norwich, who called it “very exciting and good news for the church and our mission to the world.” Dean Hedges said she had not expected to see this change in her professional life.

但週一的投票，得到了教長簡·赫奇斯(Jane Hedges)等長期活動人士的歡迎。作爲諾威奇的首任女教長，赫奇斯稱此事“對教會和我們向全世界佈道來說，都是非常激動人心的好消息”。赫奇斯教長稱沒想到會在職業生涯期間目睹這一變化。

Archbishop Welby predicted after Monday’s vote that half the Church of England’s bishops could be women within a decade, which would mean that about 50 dioceses could be led by women.

韋爾比大主教在週一的投票後預測，十年之內，英格蘭國教會一半的主教職務將由女性擔任，也就是說，可能會有大約50個主教教區由女性領導。

Hilary Cotton, the chairwoman of Women and the Church, or Watch, told the BBC that she hoped the change occurred quickly.

女性與教會（Women and the Church，簡稱Watch）組織的主席希拉里·科頓(Hilary Cotton)告訴BBC，她希望這一改變能儘快成爲現實。

“It is not just about having women wearing purple,” she said. “It is about changing the culture of the church to be more equal.”

“此事涉及的，不僅是女性能否穿上紫色主教服，”她說，“還涉及改變教會文化，讓它更加平等。”