56 罗马教皇访问乌克兰（在线收听）

Pope to Visit Mostly Orthodox Ukraine

Sabina Castelfranco

Rome

21 Jun 2001 20:13 UTC

The most traveled Roman 1)Catholic church leader in history 2)embarks on another 3)controversial trip this weekend. 4)Pope John Paul's latest pastoral visit will take him for the first time to the Ukraine, a country where the population is mostly 5)Orthodox.

Pope John Paul was the first 6)pontiff to visit an Orthodox country when he traveled to Romania in 1999. During his 7)pontificate, he has often expressed the desire to build unity between the Western and Eastern Christian Churches, which split in the Great Schism of 1054.

The 81-year-old pope is treading difficult ground again. In January, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church asked him to delay the visit.

The Ukrainian Church, which is historically and culturally very close to Moscow, expressed fears that the papal visit could displease the nation's diverse Christian groups. But Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma has said the pope's visit, in his words, "will advance peace between different confessions in Ukraine."

Several protests have already been held in the capital, Kiev, against the Pope's visit. More demonstrations could be possible during the pope's visit from June 23 to 27.

Pope John Paul will first travel to Kiev where he will spend three days. He will then visit the western city of Lviv, where many Catholics live. He will celebrate masses in both cities and more than two million people are expected to attend.

During his visit, the pope may address the 8)touchy issue of churches 9)confiscated from Ukrainian Catholics by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin who turned the buildings over to the Eastern Orthodox Church. After Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, clashes 10)erupted between the two churches over ownership.

Religious differences between Catholics and Orthodox appear to many to be 11)insurmountable. But in May, Pope John Paul asked for forgiveness for 1,000 years of sins committed by Catholics and Orthodox Christians. There are hopes this trip will be another step to patch up old 12)animosities.

(1)      catholic[5kAWElIk]n.天主教徒adj.天主教的

(2)      embark[Im5bB:k]v.上船, 上飞机, 着手,登上

(3)      controversial[kRntrE5v:F(E)l]adj.争论的, 争议的

(4)      pope[pEJp]n.罗马教皇,主教

(5)      orthodox[5C:WEdRks]adj.东正教的

(6)      pontiff[5pRntIf]n.罗马教皇, 主教, 大祭司

(7)      pontificate[pRn5tIfIkEt]n.教皇的职位, 主教的地位

(8)      touchy[5tQtFI]adj.难以处理的, 易起火的

(9)      confiscate[5kRnfIskeIt]vt.没收, 充公,征用adj.被没收的

(10)      erupt[I5rQpt]vt.喷出vi.爆发

(11)      insurmountable[InsE5maJntEb(E)l]adj.不能克服的, 不能超越的

(12)      animosity[AnI5mRsItI]n.仇恨, 憎恶