(原文刊載於紐約時報2013年9月20日A1頁,網路全文出處請按此)

Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control
記者 Laurie Goodstein/ 發布時間 9. 19, 2013 

Six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church had grown “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics.
教宗方濟各上任六個月後,於週四(19/9/2013)透過羅馬天主教會發表衝擊性的言論。他認為教會組織對於墮胎、同性婚姻和人工避孕等議題過份關注,因此儘管飽受批評,他決定選擇不再談論這類議題。

Riccardo De Luca/ Associated Press

His surprising comments came in a lengthy interview in which he criticized the church for putting dogma before love, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over serving the poor and marginalized. He articulated his vision of an inclusive church, a “home for all” — which is a striking contrast with his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, the doctrinal defender who envisioned a smaller, purer church.

教宗這段驚人的評論來自於一段長篇的訪談,他在其中批評教會看重教條甚於對世人的愛、看重道德更甚於服務貧困與弱勢族群。他闡述了他的理念:一個充滿包容的教會、一個接納「所有人」的大家庭。這與他的前任教宗本篤十六世的理念形成鮮明的對比,因為衛道的前任教宗更致力於打造一個小而純淨的教會。

Francis told the interviewer, a fellow Jesuit: “It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.

方濟各告訴採訪者,做為耶穌的信徒沒有必要隨時隨地談論這類議題,教條式的道德教義並不等同於教會的全部。教會在傳道時不能執著於宣揚與現實脫節的信條。

“We have to find a new balance,” the pope continued, “otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”
「我們必須找到一個新的平衡。」教宗繼續說,「否則以道德為基石的華廈,最終也會是像紙牌屋一樣坍塌,讓福音失去引人入勝之處。」

The pope’s interview did not change church doctrine or policies, but it instantly changed its tone. His words evoked gratitude and hope from many liberal Catholics who had felt left out in the cold during the papacies of Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, which together lasted 35 years. Some lapsed Catholics suggested on social media a return to the church, and leaders of gay rights and gay Catholic groups called on bishops to abandon their fight against gay marriage.
教宗的訪談並沒有改變教會的教條或政策,但談話的調性完全不同。他的這番言論,激起了許多感激與希望,尤其是經歷了聖若望保羅二世與其繼任者本篤十六世兩任共35年冷落的自由派天主教徒。有些遠離教會許久的天主教徒甚至在社群媒體上呼籲重回教會,而同性權益團體和同志天主教團體的領導也因此呼籲各地主教放棄對抗同性婚姻。

But it left conservative and traditionalist Catholics, and those who have devoted themselves to the struggles against abortion, gay marriage and artificial contraception, on the defensive, though some cast it as nothing new.
但是這讓保守派與傳統派,以及投身反墮胎、反同性婚姻和反人工避孕的天主教徒起而反抗,儘管部分教徒無視這番呼籲。

“Nobody should try to use the words of the pope to minimize the urgent need to preach and teach about abortion,” said the Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, who said he spoke Thursday about the “priority of the abortion issue” at a Vatican conference.
「大家不應該援用教宗的話來減緩我們教導反堕胎的迫切需要」美國維護生命司鐸會主席法蘭克帕沃神父說,他週四(19/9)才在梵蒂岡的研討會上強調重視墮胎議題的急迫性。

The interview with Francis was conducted by the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, editor in chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, an Italian Jesuit journal whose content is approved by the Vatican. Francis, the first Jesuit to become a pope, agreed to grant the interview after requests from Father Spadaro and the editors of America, a Jesuit magazine based in New York.
這次對教宗的訪談是由安東尼‧奧斯巴達羅神父主持,他是義大利耶穌會雜誌「天主教文明」(La Civiltà Cattolica) 的主編,其發行與内容經由梵諦岡批准。方濟各是第一位出任教宗的耶穌會主教,在安東尼奧斯巴德羅神父的請求之下,同意接受斯巴德羅神父與另一在美國紐約發行的耶穌會雜誌採訪。

Father Spadaro conducted the interview during three meetings in August in the pope’s spartan quarters in Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse, where Francis said he had chosen to live because it is less isolated than the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. “I cannot live without people,” Francis told Father Spadaro.
斯巴德羅神父的採訪在8月間分三次進行,訪談地點是在梵諦岡聖保羅大教堂的聖瑪爾宿舍。方濟各教宗選擇居住在此是因為這裡比起羅馬教廷設置的教宗寓所「使徒宮」更親近人群。「我不能離群索居。」教宗如此告訴斯巴德羅神父。

The interview, kept under wraps for weeks by the Jesuits, was released simultaneously on Thursday morning by 16 Jesuit journals around the world. Francis personally reviewed the Italian transcript, and it was translated by a team into English, said the Rev. James Martin, an editor at large of America.
這個秘密進行的訪談內容直到19日週四才在全球16個版本的耶穌會刊上公布。負責美國版編輯的詹姆斯馬丁神父表示,教宗親自審閱了義大利文的版本,之後再由一組人翻譯成英文。

“We have a great pope,” said Father Spadaro in a phone interview from his office, surrounded by Italian journalists. “There is a big vision, not a big shift. His big vision is to see the church in the middle of the persons who need to be healed. It is in the middle of the world.”
在辦公室被重重義大利記者包圍著的神父巴達羅則在電話裡說到:「我們有個偉大的領袖,與其說他要對教會進行重大改革,不如說他有一個遠大的願景,他希望教會能更加入世地融入那些需要被治癒創傷的人群之中。」

The pope’s words are likely to have repercussions in a church whose bishops and priests in many countries, including the United States, have often seemed to make combating abortion, gay marriage and contraception their top public policy priorities. Francis said that those teachings have to be presented in a larger context.
教宗的話可能會對許多將墮胎、同性婚姻、人工節育等議題列為國內優先政策的主教或牧師有相當影響,包括美國在內。方濟各說,教會的教誨必須能夠在更廣泛的情境之下被體現。

“I see the church as a field hospital after battle,” Francis said. “It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars. You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”
「我認為教會就如同戰時的野戰醫院一般。」方濟各說,「問一個身負重傷的人有沒有高膽固醇或高血糖對傷勢毫無助益,你要做的是先把創傷治好,然後我們才有辦法再來談其他的。」

From the outset of his papacy in March, Francis, who is 76, has chosen to use the global spotlight to focus on the church’s mandate to serve the poor and oppressed. He has washed the feet of juvenile prisoners, visited a center for refugees and hugged disabled pilgrims at his audiences. His pastoral presence and humble gestures have made him wildly popular among American Catholics, according to a recent Pew survey.
方濟各現年76歲,從今年3月開始擔任教宗以來,選擇讓全球目光焦點更注意於教會有「服務貧困和被壓迫者的義務」之上。他為少年受刑人洗腳,參觀難民收容所時在群眾之中擁抱了行動不便的朝聖者。根據皮優民調中心最近一項調查指出,他親近群眾與謙遜的身段讓他在美國天主教徒之中廣受歡迎。

But there has been a low rumble of discontent from some Catholic advocacy groups, and even from some bishops, who have taken note of his silence on abortion and gay marriage. This month, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, R.I., told his diocesan newspaper that he was “a little bit disappointed in Pope Francis” because he had not spoken about abortion. “Many people have noticed that,” he said.
但部分天主教倡議團體甚至各地主教中也一直存在不滿之聲,他們注意到了教宗對於墮胎和同性婚姻議題的沉默。這個月,羅德島州普羅維斯登主教湯瑪斯托賓對教區內的報社表示,他對方濟各教宗始終沒有談論墮胎議題的做法「有點失望」,他說:「很多人都注意到這個情況了。」

The interview is the first time Francis has explained the reasoning behind both his actions and omissions. He also expanded on the comments he made about homosexuality in July, on an airplane returning to Rome from Rio de Janeiro, where he had celebrated World Youth Day. In a remark then that produced headlines worldwide, the new pope said, “Who am I to judge?” At the time, some questioned whether he was referring only to gays in the priesthood, but in this interview he made clear that he had been speaking of gay men and lesbians in general.
這次的訪談是方濟各第一次對他各種行動和不作為的理由做出解釋。他還補充了今年7月他在里約熱內盧慶祝世界青年節後,返回羅馬時在機上發表對於同性戀議題的看法,這番談話後來更成為全球新聞頭條,新任教宗说,「我憑什麼審判他人呢?」當時,有人懷疑他說的是否只限同性戀神職者,但在這次的採訪中,教宗明確表示他所說的包含所有一般男女同性戀者。

“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality,” he told Father Spadaro. “I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person.”
「曾經有人用非常挑釁的方式問我是否贊成同性戀?」,他告訴斯巴德羅神父說:「我用另一個問題回答他說:『告訴我,當上帝看到一個同性戀者時,祂會用愛肯定這個人的存在,或是用譴責拒絕他?』我們必須要考慮到這個人的感受。」

The interview also serves to present the pope as a human being, who loves Mozart and Dostoyevsky and his grandmother, and whose favorite film is Fellini’s “La Strada.”
這篇訪問還反映出教宗人性化的一面,他喜歡莫札特、杜斯妥也夫斯基、他自己的奶奶,最喜歡的電影是費里尼的【大路】。

Francis said some had assumed he was an “ultraconservative” because of his reputation when he served as the superior of his Jesuit province in Argentina. He said that he was made superior at the “crazy” young age of 36, and that his leadership style was too authoritarian.
方濟各說,有些人因為他在阿根廷擔任耶穌會總教長時期的名聲就認為他極端保守,但他認為自己以36歲的年紀擔任總教長時「異常年輕」,而且當年領導風格太過專制。

“But I have never been a right-winger,” he said. “It was my authoritarian way of making decisions that created problems.”
「我不是右派份子,但我當時獨斷獨行的決策方式造成了許多問題。」

Now, Francis said, he prefers a more consultative leadership style. He has appointed an advisory group of eight cardinals, a step he said was recommended by the cardinals at the conclave that elected him. They were demanding reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, he said, adding that from the eight, “I want to see that this is a real, not ceremonial, consultation.”
現在,方濟各表示他更偏好協商共議的領導方式。他已經任命了一個由8位樞機主教組成的顧問團,這個措施是由當初選出方濟各成為教宗的秘密會議主教團中幾位成員所建議的。他們也要求改革梵諦岡的官僚作風,他補充說道,「我希望從這8位處得到的是真實而非形式上的顧問。」

The pope said he has found it “amazing” to see complaints about “lack of orthodoxy” flowing into the Vatican offices in Rome from conservative Catholics around the world. They ask the Vatican to investigate or discipline their priests, bishops or nuns. Such complaints, he said, “are better dealt with locally,” or else the Vatican offices risk becoming “institutions of censorship.”
教宗說,他對於各地保守天主教徒傳出對於羅馬教廷「缺乏正統信仰」的抱怨感到驚訝。他們要求梵諦岡調查或處分他們的神父、主教或修女。教宗認為這些申訴「留給各地教會自行處理即可」,否則梵蒂岡教廷可能會變成「審查機構」。

Asked what it means for him to “think with the church,” a phrase used by the Jesuit founder St. Ignatius, Francis said that it did not mean “thinking with the hierarchy of the church.”
當他被問及耶穌會創始人聖依格納修所說的「和教會一起思考」意味著什麼的時候,方濟各回答说,這並不是指「要和教會用同樣的層次思考」。

“This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people,” he said. “We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.”
「我們所說的『教會』應該是一個能容納所有人的家,而不是只有一個只能容納一小群特定人士的小教堂。我們不應該懷抱狹隘的胸襟,讓普世教會成為一個只保護庸眾的巢穴。」

 

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