英格兰国教新规允许女性担任主教

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.

伦敦——英格兰国教会(Church of England)周一通过最终投票，推翻了一个有着几百年历史的传统，允许女性担任主教。首批女主教的任命可能会在圣诞节前。

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.

英格兰国教会的立法机构总议会(General Synod)在进行了很大程度上是象征性的举手表决后，宣布通过了这一具有历史意义的变革。这项变革是在7月达成一致的。上月，英国议会对这一举措表示支持。

“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，我们将迎来一种新的教会模式，并携手前行，”坎特伯雷大主教贾斯汀·韦尔比(Justin Welby)在投票结束后说。

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.

在首位女性被任命为牧师20年后，女性在教会层级中担任高级职务这个问题，依然存在分歧。就在2012年，这一提议还因反对方多出六票而未能通过。

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.”

英格兰国教会和全球圣公宗(Anglican Communion)的精神领袖韦尔比大主教从一开始就支持该提议。他今年告诫教会的其他领袖，民众会认为将女性排除在外“几乎无法理解”。

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，韦尔比大主教周一承认，全球圣公宗现在很有可能会发生分裂。“如果不祈祷和悔过，很难看清我们如何才能避免一些严重的分裂，”他说。

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.”

这一改变将让第33条教规新增一句话，注明：“男女皆可被任命为主教。”

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、格洛斯特和纽卡斯尔在内的六个主教教区可能很快就会任命新主教。据报道，绍斯韦尔和诺丁汉已在考虑来自女性的申请。首位女主教的任命或许会在年底之前进行。上月，教会提出了一个观点，即可以采取积极行动，任命未被充分代表的女性为主教。

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.

英格兰国教会内部反对女性担任主教的派别之一，是一个保守的福音派团体，被称作改革宗(Reform)。该团体称，“男性占领导地位的神圣旨意”决定了女性“不宜”领导主教教区，并表示至少四分之一的教众会觉得此举有违他们的信仰。

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.

但周一的投票，得到了教长简·赫奇斯(Jane Hedges)等长期活动人士的欢迎。作为诺威奇的首任女教长，赫奇斯称此事“对教会和我们向全世界布道来说，都是非常激动人心的好消息”。赫奇斯教长称没想到会在职业生涯期间目睹这一变化。

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.

韦尔比大主教在周一的投票后预测，十年之内，英格兰国教会一半的主教职务将由女性担任，也就是说，可能会有大约50个主教教区由女性领导。

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

女性与教会（Women and the Church，简称Watch）组织的主席希拉里·科顿(Hilary Cotton)告诉BBC，她希望这一改变能尽快成为现实。

“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，不仅是女性能否穿上紫色主教服，”她说，“还涉及改变教会文化，让它更加平等。”