罗马教皇平安夜不平安 主持弥撒被撞倒
An "apparently unbalanced" woman approached Pope Benedict XVI and caused him to fall Thursday as he entered St Peter's Basilica to celebrate Christmas Eve mass, the Vatican spokesman said.
The pilgrim got past a security barricade by the central aisle of the vast basilica as the pope began leading the traditional procession to the altar, Father Federico Lombardi told reporters.
The woman is in the custody of the Vatican police, the ANSA news agency reported, adding that she apparently meant no harm.
The 82-year-old pontiff quickly recovered and went on to conduct the mass without assistance, but the incident marred the pontiff's fifth celebration of the event commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.
However, French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray fell ill in the crush and was given first aid, Lombardi said.
Benedict, in gold and white vestments and mitre, showed no discomfort as he read out his Christmas Eve homily, decrying selfishness, which he said "makes us prisoners of our interests and our desires that stand against the truth and separate us from one another.
"Conflict and lack of reconciliation in the world stem from the fact that we are locked into our own interests and opinions, into our own little private world," the spiritual leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics said in Italian.
Benedict has had no notable health problems since his 2005 election apart from a fractured wrist from a fall in July while holidaying in northern Italy.
Four years before he became pope however, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger spent nearly a month in hospital following a brain haemorrhage, according to the German daily Bild. It said he has suffered from fainting spells.
Thursday's incident occurred amid concern over the pope's health prompted by a Vatican decision to schedule the mass two hours early this year instead of the traditional midnight hour due to the pontiff's advanced age.
梵蒂冈官方一名发言人称，本周四平安夜当晚，当罗马教皇本笃十六世走进圣彼得大教堂准备主持平安夜弥撒时，一名“貌似情绪不稳”的女信徒将其撞倒。
费德里科•隆巴迪神父在接受记者采访时说，当时教皇正按惯例带领神甫们走向圣坛，此时一名信徒越过大教堂中央长廊两侧的护栏，当即将他撞倒。
安莎通讯社报道称，肇事女信徒已被梵蒂冈警方拘捕，并称她其实并无恶意。
被撞倒后，82岁的教皇很快恢复了常态，并一人坚持主持完了当晚的弥撒。但这多少影响了教皇第五次主持纪念耶稣降生的平安夜弥撒。
但据隆巴迪神父介绍，法国主教罗杰•艾切卡雷在混乱中受伤，并被急救。
身穿金白色法衣，头戴主教法冠的本尼迪克特教皇在宣读平安夜布道文时并未显出不适。他在布道时谴责了自私自利的行为，并称其“使我们成为利益与贪念的囚徒，这些私利与贪念有悖于真理，让我们彼此疏远”。
这位全球11亿天主教徒的精神领袖用意大利语说道：“世界上的冲突和和解的缺乏源于我们为私利、私念以及狭隘的自我世界所困。”
自从2005年被选为教皇后，本笃十六世没有出现过严重的健康问题，只是今年7月在意大利北部度假时跌断手腕。
但据德国日报《图片报》报道，在即位教皇的四年前，约瑟夫•拉辛格（本尼迪克特原名）主教曾因脑出血住院近一个月。该报称教皇患有眩晕症。
由于教皇年事已高，今年梵蒂冈决定将传统的平安夜弥撒在午夜前两个小时开始，这引发了人们对教皇健康状况的担忧，而周四的事件正发生在这一当口。
Vocabulary:
mass: the celebration of the Eucharist（<尤指罗马天主教的>弥撒）
basilica：a Christian church building of a similar design, having a nave with a semicircular apse, two or four side aisles, a narthex, and a clerestory（大教堂，长方形基督教堂）
altar：an elevated place or structure before which religious ceremonies may be enacted or upon which sacrifices may be offered（基督教教堂内的圣坛）
pontiff：any pontifex（罗马教皇，主教）
mar：to damage or spoil to a certain extent; render less perfect, attractive, useful, etc.; impair or spoil（弄坏，毁坏）
first aid：emergency aid or treatment given to someone injured, suddenly ill, etc.（对伤者的急救）
vestment：an official or ceremonial robe（制服，法衣）
mitre：the official headdress of a bishop in the Western Church（主教法冠）
homily：a sermon, usually on a Biblical topic and usually of a nondoctrinal nature（布道，说教）
