英聖公會允女性任主教 梵蒂岡表遺憾

英聖公會允女性任主教 梵蒂岡表遺憾
http://www.wenweipo.com   [2008-07-09]

　梵蒂岡昨天表態，對英國聖公會允許女性成為主教的決定表示「遺憾」，指出決定會「成為兩派和解的新障礙」。

　英國聖公會的教會總議會前天通過此議題的投票，雖然這決議仍未成為「最終決定」，明年將就這項改變是否寫進法規展開辯論，神職人員相信，2014年前不會有女性被任命主教。 　　■綜合外電消息

Vatican 'regrets' Anglican vote to allow women bishops
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/vatican-regrets-anglican-vote-to-allow-women-bishops/2008/07/08/1215282839846.html

The Vatican says it regrets a decision by the Church of England to allow women bishops, saying that the ruling would present a "new obstacle" to reconciliation between the Holy See and the Anglican Communion.

"We learned with regret the news of the vote of the Church of England that opens the way to the ... ordination of women bishops," the Vatican said in a statement from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The decision will be "a new obstacle to reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England," it added, saying it would "have consequences for dialogue, which had hitherto borne good fruits."

The Church of England voted on Monday in the northern city of York to allow women bishops despite fears the move would prompt a major split after more than 1,300 clergy threatened to leave if it was passed.

The General Synod, the church's legislative body, held the crunch vote following a passionate eight-hour debate pitting conservatives against liberals.

Roman Catholic clergy - priests and bishops - are all male, which the Church believes obeys the directives of Jesus Christ, whose 12 apostles were all men.

A decision by branches of the Anglican Communion to allow the ordination of woman priests was already a source of friction with the Vatican.

Several conservative Anglican priests defected to Catholicism because of the move, adopted from 1984 in various branches and by the Church of England in 1992.

The Church of England, led by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, is the mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which has about 77 million followers.