VOA常速英语2013--天主教教宗本笃十六世举行任内最后一次布道

Pope Gives Final Audience 天主教教宗本笃十六世举行任内最后一次布道

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI bid his public farewell in front of tens of thousands of people on St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, the day before his resignation takes effect. The first pope to resign in nearly 600 years said goodbye.

梵蒂冈——在退位前一天，罗马教宗本笃十六世在梵蒂冈圣彼得广场给数以万计的信徒进行布道。近六百年来第一位退位的教宗向我们告别。

The faithful and the curious pressed forward for a look and a wave, as the 85-year-old pope rode through the square in his open vehicle for the final time. Later, he told the crowd, and a worldwide television audience, he has been through some “not easy” moments.

85岁的教宗坐着他的敞篷车最后一次穿过广场的时候，信徒和好奇者推搡着，都想一睹教宗尊容，获得教宗的挥手致意。稍后，教宗告诉群众和全球的电视观众，他经历了困难时刻。

Apparently 1 referring to his decision to resign, Pope Benedict said “to love the Church also means having the courage to take difficult decisions.” He urged all Catholics to always put the good of the Church before their own desires.

教宗本笃十六世明确宣称了退位的决定，他说有勇气做困难的决定也是爱教会的一种表现。他敦促所有的天主教徒始终把教会的利益放在个人意愿之上。

The pope has struggled to deal with the scandal of sexual abuse by priests, the leak of thousands of embarrassing documents and a decline of the faith in Europe - all issues his successor will have to address.

教宗一直在努力解决神父性骚扰丑闻、数以千计的使教会颜面扫地的文件的泄露以及欧洲现在天主教信仰的下降这些问题。他的继任者也要处理这些问题。

One person at the audience with a particular interest in the Church's future was Rev 2. Thomas Rosica, the director of a Catholic television network in Canada.

一位听众，牧师托马斯·罗西卡，一家天主教电视广播公司的负责人， 对教会的未来十分感兴趣。

"Pope John Paul II taught us the profound lesson of his papacy, especially in the final years, about suffering and dying. Pope Benedict has taught us another lesson. He's taught us about surrender. We don't cling to power and authority and office and privilege, when our energies are no longer there," said Rosica.

罗西卡说：“教宗约翰·保罗二世在职期间特别是最后几年给我们上了关于苦难与死亡的深刻一课。教宗本笃十六世给我们上了另外一课，他教导我们学会放弃。当我们的精力已不再的时候，我们无需紧抓着权利、职权、公职以及特权不放。”

Other Catholics in the large crowd also were sympathetic to the pope's decision, and were joining the speculation 3 about whether his successor might for the first time come from outside Europe.

群众中的其他天主教徒支持教宗的决定，并参入到推测教宗的继任者是否可能第一次是来自欧洲以外的国家的活动中。

Rosica said the cardinals 4 who will elect the next pope are aware of all that, but are not as focused on the headlines as many observers are.

罗西卡表示，那些即将选出下任教宗的红衣主教已经了解所有的这些情况，但是他们并不像许多观察家那样仅仅关注新闻焦点。

“Thank God the cardinals do not think in the way the newspapers would like them to think. They know what is going on, probably much more than we do. They will be hearing reports - the life of the Church in different places, what are the urgent needs - and out of all that a profile emerges. And I am fully 5 confident that with the help of the Holy Spirit they know what they are doing,” he said.

罗西卡说:“感谢上帝，红衣主教不是以媒体希望他们思考的方式那样思考。他们知道发生了什么，可能知道的比我们更多。他们会听各种报道——不同区域的教会生活，最迫切的需要。最后，真相会从所有事情中露出冰山一角。我坚信，在圣灵的帮助下，红衣主教知道他们在做什么。”

Many of the cardinals who will elect Benedict's successor already are in Rome. Their decision is expected around mid-March, in time for the new pope to preside over Holy Week and Easter.

即将选出本笃十六世的继任者的许多红衣主教已经聚在罗马。他们希望在三月中旬选出继任者，以便新教宗能及时主持复活节圣周庆祝活动和复活节仪式。

Meanwhile, from Thursday evening the Catholic Church will have a living former pope for the first time in nearly 600 years. Pope Benedict said he will continue to be part of the Church in what he called a “new way.” He asked the faithful to remember him, and to warm applause he concluded with a simple “thank you.”

同时，从周四晚上开始，近600年来，天主教堂将拥有首位仍在世的前任教宗。本笃十六世表示他不会放弃天主教会，而是以新的方式继续为教会奉献。他请求信徒记住他。最后对信徒的热烈掌声，他回以一句“谢谢”。