教皇支持“良心反抗”

AS IT IS 2015-09-29 Pope Supports 'Conscientious¹ Objection' 教皇支持“良心反抗”

Pope Francis says people should have the right to refuse tasks they oppose on moral grounds.

The Pope’s comments were thought to support a court worker in the United States. This woman refused to sign marriage licenses² for homosexual, or same-sex, couples.

Pope Francis made these comments on a return flight to Rome after a 10-day trip to Cuba and the United States. He said, "I can say that conscientious objection is a right, and it is part of every human right."

A person’s conscience is like their moral inner voice, telling them what is right for them and what is wrong. In most cases, conscientious objectors are people who refuse to fight in wars on moral or religious grounds. In this situation, the definition has been expanded to include people who refuse to do certain work based on their moral beliefs.

Kim Davis is a court clerk in the central southern state of Kentucky. She was jailed for several days last month after refusing to sign marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Ms. Davis was released after agreeing that she would not block her coworkers from signing same-sex marriage licenses.

The U.S. Supreme³ Court in June upheld the Constitutional right to marry for all people. The Roman Catholic Church says marriage should be reserved for unions between women and men.  

On his flight the pope said, “Conscientious objection must be supported legally. Otherwise, we would end up in a situation where we select what is a right, saying: 'This right has merit, this one does not.' "

The Pope’s visit to the U.S. included the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. That gathering⁴ is the world’s largest Catholic gathering of families.

The Vatican – the government of the Roman Catholic Church -- will continue talking about family issues like marriage next month. The meetings are called the Ordinary Synod on the Family. A synod is a formal meeting of church leaders. The meeting will be held October 4 to 25.

During his visit, the Pope also addressed the issue of child-sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. He met privately⁵ with five victims of child-sexual abuse by Catholic clergy⁶, or officials in the church.

According to the New York Times, the pope said, “I felt the need to express compassion⁷ because something really terrible happened. What happened was a great tribulation⁸.”

He said some bishops⁹, or high officials in the church, had covered up abuse cases. Pope Francis has removed a handful of bishops for their roles in protecting abusive priests, the New York Times reported.

Words in this Story

moral – n. concerning or relating to what is right and wrong in human behavior : based on what you think is right and good

conscientious objector – n. a person who refuses to serve in the military because of moral or religious beliefs

conscientious – adj. very careful about doing what you are supposed to do : concerned with doing something correctly

clerk – n. an elected or appointed official whose job is to take care of official papers and business for a court or government

synod – n.  a formal meeting of church leaders : a group of church leaders who are in charge of making decisions and laws related to the church

1 conscientious   

adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的

参考例句：

• He is a conscientious man and knows his job.他很认真负责，也很懂行。
• He is very conscientious in the performance of his duties.他非常认真地履行职责。

2 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

6 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。

7 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

8 tribulation   

n.苦难，灾难

参考例句：

• Even in our awful tribulation we were quite optimistic.即使在极端痛苦时，我们仍十分乐观。
• I hate the tribulation,I commiserate the sorrow brought by tribulation.我厌恶别人深重的苦难，怜悯苦难带来的悲哀。

9 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。