VOA常速英语2008年-Pope to Host Interfaith Gathering During Visit

By George Dwyer
Washington
08 April 2008
 

Pope Benedict XVI will make his first official visit to the United States next week (April 15 - 20), with stops scheduled in Washington and New York City. Among the other items on his agenda, the pope will host an interfaith gathering¹ at a cultural center in the nation's capitol. Representatives from the world's major religions have been invited to meet and discuss shared concerns with the pontiff. VOA's George Dwyer has an advance look at the planned event.

The Pope's interreligious gathering will take place here, at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington.

"There will be representatives of the Hindu, Buddhist², Jain, Jewish, and Islamic religious traditions. The main theme of the conference is 'Religions Working for Peace,'" Father James Wiseman explained.  The priest is a Professor of Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America, and an expert in interreligious dialogue.

"Pope Benedict  will give an address to all of those in attendance, I believe about 200 altogether," added Father Wiseman. "Some of the representatives of the other religious traditions will express their greetings to Pope Benedict and some of the younger members from each of those five religious traditions will give him symbolic³ gifts."

Representing the 10 to 15 million Muslims in the United States will be the National Director of the Islamic Society of North America, Dr. Sayyid Syeed.  He says Catholics and Muslims have particularly a very special relationship.

"Catholics over generations have struggled for recognition and respect. Their experience of that struggle is directly relative to us establishing a respectable Islamic presence in America,” he said.

Dr. Syeed says he looks forward to meeting Pope Benedict, but admits he was troubled by a controversial reference the Pope made to an anti-Islamic Byzantine emperor during a visit to Germany in 2006,

 "There was an unfortunate incident a few years ago while he was giving a speech in Regensburg, Germany. So he made an indirect comment about our Prophet Mohammed - 'peace be upon him.' And that was extremely painful. And unfortunately the reaction to that event, that incident was it was equally painful in many Muslim countries, people were very angry,” he said.

"Pope Benedict did later explain that he himself did not agree with the statements of that Byzantine emperor, but it would certainly have been better if he had made that clear at the time of his speech," Father Wiseman noted⁴.

On a subsequent visit to Turkey, Benedict became only the second pope to visit a mosque⁵, even taking a few moments to pray alone. That soothed⁶ some feelings, but it also reminded many that the dialogue must be kept up.

"I would like to make sure that if he has any misunderstanding about Islam we need to sit and discuss,” Dr. Syeed said. “Because it is only through discussion and dialogue that we should be able to overcome the obstacles that we may have in our minds towards moving forward in creating a peaceful human society."

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

3 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

6 soothed   

v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦

参考例句：

• The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
• The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》