VOA标准英语2012--Pope to Mark 400th Anniversary of Cuban Shrine

Pope to Mark 400th Anniversary of Cuban Shrine¹

 

Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Cuba Monday. His first stop will be near the eastern city of Santiago to mark the 400th anniversary of a religious icon² there. The Virgin³ of Charity of El Cobre is venerated⁴ by many Cubans, regardless of their faith. But it is central to the Roman Catholic Church's strategy for a country where religious restrictions⁵ recently have been easing.

A constant stream of pilgrims dressed in bright yellow bring sunflowers and other offerings in the color associated with the Our Lady of Charity. Four hundred years ago, the statue was found at sea. And legend has it that her rescue calmed the stormy waters. 

The cathedral that houses the icon was built just outside Santiago in the 1920s. A collection of world championship sports medals and baseball jerseys⁶ attests⁷ to the credit she gets for spurring her devotees on to great achievements. Even Ernest Hemingway offered her his 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.

After lighting⁸ a few yellow candles, Jeanette Galdeano says the Virgin of Charity helps her have faith. “I pray for peace, for my family, my children and all Cubans. And I'm thinking about the hope that every day things will get better and we can move forward,” she says.

Few Cubans attend church regularly. Many more blend Catholic saint veneration⁹ with voodoo and other traditions that came to Cuba from Africa hundreds of years ago.

The Rev¹⁰. Dionisio García Ibá?ez is the archbishop of Santiago. He says the pope is aware that the 400-year-old national patron is a symbol for non-Catholics as well. “The pope chose to come at this time to celebrate the jubilee¹¹ year. And there's not even the slightest doubt that he understands the spiritual reality of our people,” the archbishop says. 

The Vatican hopes that the pope's visit to the shrine will help revive faith in Cuba. A glimpse of the future of Catholicism can be seen at the Sagrada Familia Church in Santiago. Every Saturday, dozens of children receive catechism from a small group of parents and former students. 

University student Virgen Angelica Ladron de Guevarra is one of the teachers. She says Catholic faith is growing in Cuba. “And with this pope's visit, I think that both the government and nonbelievers are beginning to show a little more trust in Catholics and in the Church,” she says. 

The Roman Catholic Church is the only institution with authority that is not part of the communist system here. Many Cubans are grateful for its efforts to advance economic liberalization.

Rev. Luis del Castillo came to help the Cuban church after retiring from his bishop's duties in his native Uruguay. He says secularism¹² does not have deep roots in Cuba, as it does in some countries in Eastern Europe and Latin America that emerged from communist or authoritarian¹³ rule.

“We're stepping on a very fertile ground, because the people here are very religious, more than in my own country in Uruguay,” Castillo says. “And I think this good turf will help, that the seeds of the Gospel will give good fruit in the future.” 

As they head out into the almost blinding light of Santiago, the children pass a poster welcoming Pope Benedict. He, too, apparently¹⁴ is hoping that these children will help revive Catholicism in a country that was once an atheist¹⁵ state.

1 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

2 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

3 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

4 venerated   

敬重（某人或某事物），崇敬( venerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My father venerated General Eisenhower. 我父亲十分敬仰艾森豪威尔将军。
• He used the sacraments and venerated the saints. 他行使圣事，崇拜圣人。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 jerseys   

n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The maximum quantity of cotton jerseys this year is about DM25,000. 平方米的羊毛地毯超过了以往的订货。 来自口语例句
• The NBA is mulling the prospect of stitching advertising logos onto jerseys. 大意：NBA官方正在酝酿一个大煞风景的计划——把广告标志绣上球服！ 来自互联网

7 attests   

v.证明( attest的第三人称单数 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓

参考例句：

• The child's good health attests his mother's care. 这孩子健康的身体证实他母亲照料周到。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The boy's good health attests to his mother's care. 这个男孩的良好健康就是他母亲细心照顾的明证。 来自辞典例句

8 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

9 veneration   

n.尊敬，崇拜

参考例句：

• I acquired lasting respect for tradition and veneration for the past.我开始对传统和历史产生了持久的敬慕。
• My father venerated General Eisenhower.我父亲十分敬仰艾森豪威尔将军。

10 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

11 jubilee   

n.周年纪念；欢乐

参考例句：

• They had a big jubilee to celebrate the victory.他们举行盛大的周年纪念活动以祝贺胜利。
• Every Jubilee,to take the opposite case,has served a function.反过来说，历次君主巡幸，都曾起到某种作用。

12 secularism   

n.现世主义；世俗主义；宗教与教育分离论；政教分离论

参考例句：

• Unless are devoted to God, secularism shall not leave us. 除非我们奉献于神，否则凡俗之心便不会离开我们。 来自互联网
• They are no longer a huge threat to secularism. 他们已不再是民主的巨大威胁。 来自互联网

13 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

14 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

15 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。