为什么教会要有这样的等级制度？ Why is the Church organized with the hierarchy that it has?
要记住，当耶稣建立教会时，祂并不是在真空中建立的。 Well, you've got to remember that when Jesus founded the Church, He didn't just found it in a vacuum.
祂是在圣彼得和十二使徒的基础上建立教会的。 He founded it on St. Peter and the Twelve Apostles.
当祂说「你是磐石，我要把我的教会建造在这磐 石上」时，祂是对使徒们讲道并为他们祷告。 When He said, You are rock, and on this rock I will build my Church, He addressed His teaching to the Apostles and prayed for them.
当祂离开后，他们成为教会的奠基者，他们特别在 东罗马帝国，以及其他一些更远的地方传播福音。 When He is gone, they are the founding fathers of the Church, and they spread out over especially the Eastern Roman Empire, but in some places a little further, to spread that good news.
但他们开始相继去世，他们都殉道了，许多见过耶稣 的见证人也都去世了——有些殉道，有些自然死亡。 But they started dying off; they were all martyred, and many of the eyewitnesses of Jesus died off—some martyred, some died naturally.
在建立这些团体之后，他们在去世之前或离开之前， 建立了继承的方式，而使徒的继承人就是主教们。 After founding these communities, either before they died or when they moved on, they established a method of succession, and the successors to the Apostles are the bishops.
随着时间推移，教会开始承认彼得的继承人是全世界所有主教的统一领袖， 特别是，罗马主教被认为不仅是使徒的继承人，更是彼得的特定继承人。 Now, over time, the Church came to recognize the successor of Peter as the unifying head of all the bishops throughout the world, and specifically, the Bishop of Rome was recognized as a successor not just to the Apostles, but specifically the successor to Peter.
再说一次，教宗的治理不是在真空中进行的，就像彼得的管理也不是在真空中进行的一样。 Now again, the Pope doesn't rule in a vacuum any more than Peter administered in a vacuum.
他是十二人中的一位，而教宗是全世界众多主教中的一位。 He was one among twelve, and the Pope is one among many bishops throughout the world.
但公教会与其他大公的基督教会的区别在于，他们的主教，他 们的领袖，是与罗马的统一领袖，即彼得的继承人联合的。 But what distinguishes the Catholic Church from other Christian churches that are Catholic is their bishop, their leader, is united with the unifying head in Rome, the successor to Peter.
他是全世界所有教会的统一者，是最高权威，但他并不是独自工作的。 He is that unifier of all the churches throughout the world; he is the highest authority, but he doesn't work in a vacuum.
他与所有其他的使徒继承人，也就是全世界的主教们 一起工作，而神父们则是主教们在各自教区的延伸。 He works with all the other apostolic successors, which are the bishops throughout the world, and the priests are extensions of the bishops themselves in their individual dioceses.
作为一个神父，如果我不与当地主教联系，就什么都不是。 As a priest, I'm nothing if I'm not connected to a local bishop.
即使是修士也需要与当地主教建立联系，并得到他们的批准和接纳。 Even seminarians need to be connected and approved and accepted by a local bishop.
所以，这是一个组织的等级制度，用来保存教会的教导并 组织教会的教导，使其不会陷入混乱和分裂成不同派系。 So, it's a hierarchy of organization to preserve the teaching of the Church and organize the teaching of the Church so that it doesn't scatter into chaos and all different factions.
但有一个统一的因素，首要的是在耶稣身上，其次是在祂留下的 教会奠基者身上——十二使徒——以彼得为他们的统一领袖。 But there's that one unifying factor, principally in Jesus, but in those He left to be the founding fathers of the Church—the Twelve Apostles—with their unifying head in Peter.
我们有使徒的继承人和主教们，以教宗为他们的统一领袖，他 特别作为圣彼得的继承人，成为全世界所有主教的统一领袖。 We have our apostolic successors and the bishops with their unifying head in the Pope, who specifically succeeds St. Peter as the unifying head of all the bishops throughout the world.
人们对教宗的一个普遍误解是，认为他是教义的仁慈独裁者， 好像他想改变某个教导就能改变，因为他有权力改变教导。 Well, a common misconception of the Holy Father is that he is a benevolent dictator of dogma, where if he wants to change a teaching, he can because he has the authority to change that teaching.
教宗所要建立的，并不是基于他是否喜欢前任教宗的教 导，而是要在历代教宗对教会教导的基础上继续建造。 What the Pope will build upon is not necessarily liking or disliking the teaching of a previous Pope, but building upon the previous teachings of the Popes on the teachings of the Church.
许多人希望现任教宗能改变这些教导，比如关于道德、性 、节育等方面的教导，他们说他有权力改变这些教导。 Many people would wish the current Pope to change such teachings, say on morality, sexuality, birth control, and so on, and they'll say he has the power to change that teaching.
但实际上，他没有这个权力。他的权威在于保存教会的教导，而历任教宗都 是以不同的方式和角度来阐释这些教导，使其适应当时的环境并加以应用。 But actually, he doesn't. His authority is in preserving the teaching of the Church, and previous Holy Fathers have found different ways and different angles to address that teaching to its current circumstances and to apply the teaching.
因此，教宗会回顾前任教宗应用这些教导的方式，或许会借鉴这些方 式，创造性地应用教会的教导来应对现代世界中教会面临的问题。 So, Popes will look back on the ways that previous Popes had applied that teaching and perhaps make use of it for their own creative application of the teaching of the Church to address the current issues that the Church faces in the modern world.
那教宗的无误性又如何呢？ What about the infallibility of the Pope?
信不信由你，教宗并不是教会中唯一具有无误性的。 Believe it or not, the Pope is not the only thing in the Church that is infallible.
无误性是在1868年第一届梵蒂冈大公会议上定义的。 Infallibility was defined in 1868 by the First Vatican Council.
这是庇护九世教宗推动的，目的是要明确定义圣彼得继承人的教导角色和权威，以及他 作为全世界主教统一领袖的角色，这是在考虑到全世界其他主教的情况下所作的定义。 It was pushed by Pope Pius IX, and it was to define what exactly is the teaching role and authority of the successor to St. Peter in light of the other bishops throughout the world and his role as the unifying head of the bishops throughout the world.
在什么情况下他才具有这种无误的神恩？ Under what circumstance does he have that charism of infallibility?
第一届梵蒂冈大公会议定义，教宗因其作为彼得继承 人和教会的首席牧者与教师的职分而具有无误性。 The First Vatican Council defined infallibility as being possessed by the Holy Father in virtue of his office as the successor of Peter and the chief shepherd and teacher of the Church.
当他以宗座权威发言时，他就具有无误的权威。 He has the authority of infallibility when he speaks ex cathedra.
宗座权威的意思是从座位上，从彼得的座位上。 Ex cathedra means from the chair, from the chair of Peter.
所以，他必须特别行使这个神恩。 So, he has to specifically exercise that charism.
这个神恩并不是说他某天在雨天醒来说「哇，今天天气真好」，然后我们就要 把「雨天就是好天气」作为正式的信仰宝库，因为教宗作出了这样的宣告。 It's not a charism in which he wakes up one day on a rainy day and says, Wow, what beautiful weather we're having today, and there we now have, as an official deposit of faith, rainy weather constitutes beautiful weather because the Pope has made that declaration.
这不是无误性的含义。 That's not what infallibility is.
教宗要从圣彼得的座位上作出正式宣告，而自从第一届梵蒂冈大公会议作出这个定义以 来，教宗只行使过一次这个神恩——在1948年——当时他定义了圣母升天的教义。 The Pope makes a formal declaration from the chair of Saint Peter, and since that definition of the First Vatican Council, the Pope has exercised that charism a grand total of once—in 1948—when he defined the doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
第一届梵蒂冈大公会议还说，当主教团作为一个统一的整体与教宗联 合，以使徒继承人的身份行使训导权时，他们也具有无误的权威。 The First Vatican Council also says that the body of bishops carries with them the authority of infallibility when, as a unified body in union with the Holy Father, they exercise that magisterium as successors to the Apostles.
正如第一届梵蒂冈大公会议和《公教会教理》第891段所指出的 ，说明这一点的具体例子是当主教们与教宗在大公会议中发言时。 The specific instance that illustrates this, as noted by both the First Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 891, is when the bishops with the Pope speak in ecumenical council.
因此，这是承认在教会的整个历史中，21次大公会议都具 有无误性的分量，这些会议定义了信仰要素和教会的神恩。 So, it's acknowledging that in the entire history of the Church, the 21 ecumenical councils carry with them the weight of infallibility, where those councils have defined elements of faith and have defined charisms of the Church.
即使在第二届梵蒂冈大公会议的情况下，虽然教会内部有一些派系说该会 议无效，但如果我们看第一届梵蒂冈大公会议的定义，梵二并非无效。 Even in the case of the Second Vatican Council, where there are some factions within the Church that say the council was invalid, if we look at the definition of the Council of First Vatican, Vatican II is not invalid.
梵二是无误的，因为这是全世界的主教与教宗一起行使训导权。 Vatican II is infallible because it's the bishops throughout the world exercising that magisterium with the Holy Father.
所以，关于主教们一起行使训导权，我们在历史上见过21次大公会议，自从第 一届梵蒂冈大公会议正式定义以来，又在第二届梵蒂冈大公会议中出现过一次。 So, when it comes to the bishops together exercising that magisterium, we've seen it in the ecumenical council 21 times in history, once in the Second Vatican Council since the formal definition in the First Vatican Council.
但关于教宗行使个人无误神恩，在正式定义之前可能也行使过几次。 But of the Pope exercising a personal charism of infallibility, that too has been exercised perhaps a number of times before the formal definition.
然而，自从梵一的正式定义以来，教宗只在定义 圣母升天的教义时行使过一次这种无误神恩。 However, since the formal definition in Vatican I, the Pope has exercised that infallible charism once in the definition of the doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
所以，这并不是说教宗说的任何话都是无误的，也不是 说如果他不是以无误的方式说话，我们就不听他的。 So, it's not simply that anything the Pope says is to be held infallibly, nor does it mean that if he isn't speaking infallibly, we don't listen to him.
它定义的是教宗的一个正式神恩，就是当他从宗座发言时，当他以宗座权威发言时， 或当主教团与教宗联合作为使徒继承人行使训导权时，可以定义信仰和道德事务。 What it defines is a formal charism of the Pope to define matters of faith and morals when he speaks from the chair, when he speaks ex cathedra, or when the body of bishops in union with the Pope exercises that magisterium as successors to the Apostles.
最明显和清晰的形式是当他们在大公会议中发言时。 The most obvious and clear format is when they speak in ecumenical council.
现在，有些人经常问我，考虑到教会许多有争议的教导，特别是那些连公教徒和整个社会都 不太接受的教导，他们会问：神父，为什么教宗不对节育或堕胎等问题作出无误声明呢？ Now, some people have often asked me, in light of many of the controversial teachings of the Church, especially teachings in which even Catholics, in particular, and society in general do not react positively towards, some have asked, Well, Father, why doesn't the Pope make an infallible statement about, say, birth control or abortion?
这是一个很好的问题，因为它涉及到当教宗不是以宗座权威发言 ，不是以无误方式发言时，我们是否需要听从他的整个问题。 And that's a very good question because it speaks to the whole issue of whether we even need to listen to the Pope when he doesn't speak ex cathedra, when he doesn't speak infallibly.
关于堕胎或节育的问题，我要说他不需要以宗座权威发言，不需要 以无误方式发言，因为这是教会的教导，是基于生命、婚姻、人类 性和生命创造的基本原则，这些原则在教会历史中一直存在。 In answer to that question regarding abortion or birth control, I would say he doesn't have to speak ex cathedra; he doesn't have to speak infallibly because that is a teaching of the Church based on fundamental principles of life, marriage, human sexuality, and the creation of life that has always been with the Church throughout history.
这是教宗和全世界所有主教都持守的教导。 It is a teaching that is held by the Pope and all the bishops throughout the world.
所以，这不是教宗坐在伯多禄座位上以宗座权威发言的结果，也不一定 是大公会议作为使徒继承人的整体对堕胎或节育作出正式宣告的结果。 So, this is not a teaching that is a result of the Pope sitting in the chair of Peter and speaking ex cathedra, nor is this necessarily the result of an ecumenical council making a formal declaration as one body of apostolic successors against abortion or birth control.
但这是教宗和所有主教一起教导的一贯的历史性教导 ，因此不需要大公会议的印证或无误性的正式宣告。 But it is a consistent and historic teaching that the Pope and all the bishops together have taught, and therefore it doesn't need the stamp of an ecumenical council or the formal declaration of infallibility.
所以，对于为什么教宗不对这些问题作出无误声明的问题， So, to the question, Why doesn't the Pope make an infallible statement on such issues as that?
答案是他不需要这样做，因为这些教导本身就已经具有训导权的 分量，这是基于其所建立的基础教导和这些教导的历史一致性。 The answer is he doesn't have to; it already carries with it the weight of the magisterium in virtue of the foundational teachings on which it is built and on the historical consistency of those teachings.