2007年VOA标准英语-Pope: Globalization Should Not Ignore Spiritual

By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
06 January 2007

Thousands of families were in Saint Peter's Square Saturday to receive the pope's blessing¹ on the feast day of the Epiphany. At a morning mass the pope said that religious leaders must stress the spiritual aspect of the globalization debate. Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.

Pope Benedict XVI holds his pastoral staff during the Epiphany Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican

POPE:  "The celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord invites us to contemplate² Jesus as the divine Savior, the light that guides us on our journey to eternity³."

Thousands of families packed Saint Peter's Square to hear the pope's words.  In Christian⁴ tradition, the Epiphany marks the day three wise men guided by a star pay homage⁵ to the Baby Jesus.

Earlier, the pope celebrated⁶ mass in Saint Peter's Basilica. In his homily, Benedict said the past decades have seen a "challenge to global civilization, where the center can no longer be Europe and not even that which we call the West or the North of the world."

He added that there is a need to elaborate a new world political and economic order, but, above all, a spiritual and cultural one, a renewed humanism.

Pope Benedict said that now, at the start of the Third Millennium⁷, the world is in the middle of a phase of human history described as globalization. He said that while politicians, scientists and researchers play important roles in the modern world, it is also necessary that the leaders of the great non-Christian and Christian religions are at their side.

Pope Benedict will celebrate another mass on Sunday in the Sistine Chapel⁸ in the Vatican. During that ceremony, as is tradition, he will baptize a number of children.

1 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

2 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

3 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

8 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。