VOA标准英语2008年-Pope Meets Abuse Victims as World Youth Day End

Pope Benedict XVI has met privately¹ with Australians who were sexually abused as children by priests. The pontiff held prayers and spoke² with them Monday at the conclusion of a nine-day visit for World Youth Day, an international Catholic festival. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.
　
Pope Benedict XVI thanks World Youth Day volunteers prior to departure from Sydney, 21 Jul 2008

The issue of abusive clergy³ in large part overshadowed the pope's visit to Australia for World Youth Day.

After earlier apologizing for the "evil" perpetrated by pedophile priests, the pope met a small group of victims - two men and two women chosen by church officials - at a mass in Sydney.

The Vatican said in a statement that Pope Benedict had "listened to their stories and offered them consolation⁴."

Support groups for other victims dismissed the meeting as a publicity⁵ stunt⁶.

Anthony Foster, whose daughters were raped⁷ by a priest, has expressed his disappointment…

"It's been done in a very secretive, underhanded way that shows no care or compassion⁸ for us or a great body of victims," he said.

Despite the abuse controversy⁹, the pope says Sydney's World Youth Day has been a success.

"World Youth Day has shown us that the Church can rejoice in the young people of today and be filled with hope for the world of tomorrow," he said. "Dear friends, as I depart from Sydney I ask God to look down lovingly on this city, this country and all its inhabitants."

During his visit, the pontiff not only addressed the issue of sexual abuse by the clergy, but spoke of his concerns for the environment and called on young people to save the world from greed and 'insatiable' consumerism.

Catholic leaders in Australia hope that World Youth Day in Sydney will herald¹⁰ the start of a religious revival¹¹ in a country considered in a recent German study to be one of the most godless in the western world.

Over 170 nations were represented at the festival, attracting more visitors to Sydney than the 2000 Olympic Games.

The next World Youth Day will be held in the Spanish capital, Madrid, in 2011.

　

 

1 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

4 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

5 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

6 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

7 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

8 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

9 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

10 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

11 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。