从平信徒地位反思天主教会的圣统制

The Catholic Church Hierarchy from the Perspective of the Laity

天主教会的组织形式是以有层级次序的圣统制(教阶制)为特色的.圣统制的层级次序是以主教、司铎(神父)、执事凭借其从祝圣中被赋予的神圣权力、从教宗及其所属的主教团得来的管理权力为基础.因此,圣统制的结构是基于神职人员所接受的祝圣礼,是否被祝圣导致了被祝圣者即神职人员与未被祝圣者即平信徒之间的分离.被祝圣的神职人员拥有神圣权力和管理教会的权力,未被祝圣的平信徒则没有神圣权力,需要服从神职界的管理.“平信徒从根本而言只是教会权力的对象(客体)”.①平信徒构成了教会中被领导和被驯化的阶层.②在神学词典中,平信徒(layman,Laien)的定义需参阅神职人员的定义,他们与神职界不是相互独立定义的.③根据这种思想,平信徒生活在一种非完满的状态,他们应该服从于神职界层,并应该与之保持一致.平信徒与神职界在传统教会中处于不相关联的二元对立状态.

During the course of Roman Catholic history, two distinct classes formed in the church: namely the clergy(and all in holy orders) and the laity. At the Council of Trent, and especially after Vantican I, the Church hierarchies made it clear that the clergy were to oversee the Church by dint of their divine authority, while the laity took on a subordinate role, submitting to the power of the clergy. From the Middle Ages onwards, the Church has reflected on the role of the laity in the church. Vatican II made clear that as the people of God, the clergy and lay people shared an equal status before God. This paper considers the reality of the inequality which persists between the ordained and the lay in the post Vatican II era, and offers a historical review to analyse the reasons for this divide, given the scriptural and theological emphasis on equality. The paper argues that only when traditional patterns of thinking are changed can hierarchies be weakened and equality truly effected among all within the Church.