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Pope has heart but can’t donate it anymore
教宗雖有愛心，但已無法捐贈器官                                                

Pope Benedict has a soft spot in his heart for organ donations but his body parts can’t be donated to save lives after he dies, the Vatican says.

教宗本篤雖對器官捐贈議題十分關注，但在教宗死後，他的身體器官卻無法再捐出去救人性命，梵蒂岡表示。

A doctor in Germany had been using the fact that the pope possessed an organ donors’ card from a medical association to advocate the practice. The Vatican asked him to stop but he did not.

一名德國醫師過去一直靠著教宗擁有一張由醫學協會所發出器官捐贈卡的事實，藉以宣傳器官捐贈。梵蒂岡曾要求他停止這麼做，但他並未照辦。

To settle the matter, the pope’s secretary,  Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, sent a letter to the doctor and the missive was reported in the German programme of Vatican Radio.

為解決這項爭議，教宗秘書根斯凡蒙席親自致函給這位醫師，而教廷電台的德語節目中也報導了這封正式文件。

"It’s true that the pope owns an organ donor card ... but contrary to public opinion, the card issued back in the 1970s became de facto invalid with Cardinal Ratzinger’s election to the papacy," Vatican Radio quoted from the letter.

「教宗的確擁有一張器官捐贈卡……但與一般看法相反，這張早在1970年代發出的卡片已隨著拉辛格主教獲選為教宗，實際上已經失效，」教廷電台引述信中內容指出。

In 1999, six years before he was elected to the papacy, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger disclosed that he always carried an organ donor’s card with him and encouraged the practice as "an act of love".

1999年，也就是拉辛格主教獲選為教宗的6年前，他曾披露自己身上總是帶著一張器官捐贈卡，並鼓勵大眾參與器官捐贈這種「大愛行為」。

Vatican officials say that after a pope dies, his body belongs to the entire Church and must be buried intact. Furthermore, if papal organs were donated, they would become relics in other bodies if he were eventually made a saint.

教廷官員則說，教宗死後身體屬於全天主教會所有，必須完整安葬。此外，假如教宗的器官被捐贈出去，一旦教宗日後封聖，這些器官就會變成聖髑。

source:自由時報電子報

封聖比遺愛人間"an act of love"來的重要？祝福他吧！