梵蒂冈的官僚体系经过数百年的精心调校，即使教皇无法履职，也能保持顺畅运转。
The Vatican bureaucracy has been fine-tuned over hundreds of years to function smoothly even when the pope cannot.
周二，教皇利奥在全身麻醉下失去意识至少90分钟，引发了人们对教皇失去行为能力、无法领导天主教会时会发生什么的疑问。
For at least 90 minutes on Tuesday, Pope Leo was unconscious under general anesthetic, raising the question of what happens when a pope is incapacitated and cannot lead the Catholic Church.
简短的答案是：什么也不会发生。教会对某些情况有规定，例如教皇去世或辞职，或无法自由治理（比如教皇被监禁，正如拿破仑曾囚禁庇护六世，如今这种情况极不可能发生）。但教皇严重生病或陷入昏迷等情况下，教会并没有具体的规定。
The short answer is nothing. The church has rules for some situations, like when a pope dies or resigns, or cannot freely govern (for example when a pope is imprisoned, as Pope Pius VI was by Napoleon, an unlikely scenario today). But it doesn’t have specific rules in cases in which the pope is seriously ill or, say, in a coma.
当教皇暂时住院时，梵蒂冈庞大的行政机构会自行运作，这一情景在若望·保禄二世和方济各教皇多次住院期间，梵蒂冈观察者们反复经历。
In the event of the pope’s temporary hospitalization, the Vatican’s sprawling administration runs on its own, a scenario that Vatican watchers experienced time and time again during the repeated hospitalizations of St. John Paul II and Pope Francis.
如今数十年来，罗马杰梅利医院的一套房间一直专门为教皇准备。若望·保禄二世经常住院，甚至开始称其为“第三个梵蒂冈。”（该套房目前正在翻修中，因此利奥正在附近的房间康复。）即便在那里，教皇仍然掌握主导权。
For decades now, a suite of rooms at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital have been outfitted for the pope. John Paul went so often he began to call it “the third Vatican.” (That suite is currently being renovated, so Leo is recovering in nearby rooms.) Even there the pope remains in charge.
“根本不存在副教皇，”教会历史学家阿尔贝托·梅洛尼说。“如果有需要做出的决定或任命，‘可以带到医院去让教皇批准’。”目前的情况表明，利奥的康复进展良好，他有望在一周内返回梵蒂冈，这也正是梵蒂冈此前所预期的。
“There is no deputy pope,” said Alberto Melloni, a church historian. If there are decisions or appointments to be made, “they can be brought to the pope while he’s in the hospital.”And from accounts so far, Leo’s recovery suggests that he will be back in the Vatican within a week, as the Vatican had anticipated.
利奥的医生周三表示，教皇手术后的康复进展符合预期。梵蒂冈发表的一份声明中，医生称利奥正在进行呼吸练习，已经开始行走，并吃了早餐和午餐。
Leo’s doctors said Wednesday that the pope’s recovery from surgery was progressing as expected. In a statement issued by the Vatican, his doctors said that Leo was doing respiratory exercises, had begun walking and ate both breakfast and lunch.
梵蒂冈发言人马泰奥·布鲁尼表示，教皇目前心情“很好”，但未作进一步说明。
Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesman said the pope was in a “good mood,” without elaborating.
梵蒂冈和全球教会的日常运作已委托给一个官员团队——由国务卿皮埃罗·帕罗林枢机领导——他们确保其行政管理顺利运行。
As it is, the daily running of the Vatican and the global church is delegated to a team of officials — headed by the secretary of state, Cardinal Piero Parolin — who ensure that its administration runs smoothly.
圣座是罗马天主教会的中央管理机构，包括数十个不同的办公室或部门，这些部门又负责监督具体的领域，如传教、神职人员、教育或经济。仅梵蒂冈的国务卿办公室就相当于内政部和外交部的结合体，负责监督一般管理以及与其他国家的关系和教会驻外使馆。
The Holy See is the central governing body of the Roman Catholic Church and includes dozens of distinct offices or departments that in turn oversee specific areas, like evangelization, the clergy, education or the economy. The Vatican’s Secreteriat of State alone is like a combination of a ministry of the interior and a ministry of foreign affairs, overseeing general management as well as relations with other states and the church’s embassies abroad.
“我们知道日常运作一切照常——也就是说，没有任何规定阻止任何人继续做他们正在做的事情，”教会专家、《罗马观察报》（梵蒂冈报纸）前主编乔瓦尼·马里亚·维安说。“可以说，这是一台正常运转、自动运行的机器。”教会法专家兼评论员菲利波·迪·贾科莫神父指出，教会已经有几个世纪的时间来完善其运作。
“We know that day-to-day operations continue as usual — in the sense that no one is prevented by any rule from continuing to do what they do,” said Giovanni Maria Vian, a church expert and former editor of L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper. “Let’s say it’s a machine that runs normally and automatically, so to speak.”The Rev. Filippo Di Giacomo, a canonical expert and commentator, pointed out that the church has had centuries to fine tune its workings.
“整个梵蒂冈的结构，以及神职人员的结构，都是经过几个世纪的构建，即使教会政府被迫放慢脚步，它也永远不会崩溃，”他说。“教会的法律智慧在于‘深层国家’，它使梵蒂冈得以维持，”他补充道。“教皇生病并不会导致其陷入危机。”这并不是说，如果教皇身体不适该怎么办的问题没有出现过，就像约翰·保罗二世的教皇任期一样，他因帕金森病和其他健康问题饱受十年之苦。
“The entire Vatican structure, and that of the clergy as well, has been constructed over the centuries in such a way that even when an ecclesiastical government is forced to slow down, it will never collapse,” he said. “The Church’s legal wisdom lies in the ‘deep state’ that keeps the Vatican afloat,” he added. It “doesn’t go into crisis just because the pope is ill.”This is not to say that the question of what to do if a pope is physically incapacitated has not emerged, like with the papacy of John Paul II, who suffered for a decade from Parkinson’s disease and other health issues.
“本笃十六世决定放弃教皇职位的一个重要因素是，他不想发生在他身上，”维安先生谈到本笃十六世于2013年因健康状况开始衰退而辞职的决定时说。
“One of the factors that certainly influenced Benedict XVI’s decision to renounce the papacy was the fact that he didn’t want that to happen to him,” said Mr. Vian of Benedict’s decision in 2013 to resign as his own health began to fail.
上周日，利奥在每周祈祷时宣布，医生在他的肺部发现了一个肿块，医生决定进行手术，并于两天后完成手术。梵蒂冈并未说明教皇肺部结节首次被发现的时间，只称它是在例行检查中出现的。
Last Sunday, Leo announced during his weekly prayer that doctors had found a growth on his lung, and that his doctors made the decision to operate, which they did two days later. The Vatican has not said when the nodule of the pope’s lung was first discovered, only that it emerged during routine checkups.
周三，布鲁尼先生表示，肿瘤的组织学结果“需要时间”。他还说，教皇仍希望下个月前往南美。
On Wednesday, Mr. Bruni said that the histological results of the tumor would “take time.”He also said the pope still hoped to travel to South America next month.
一些梵蒂冈观察人士指出，两项近期任命——在教皇过渡期间的重要职务——是教皇在手术前整理内部事务的证据。
Some Vatican watchers have pointed to two recent appointments — important roles during the period of papal transition — as proof that the pope was putting his house in order ahead of the surgery.
上周，利奥批准任命69岁的路易斯·安东尼奥·塔格勒枢机为红衣主教院新任院长，这一关键职务在教皇过渡期间尤为重要。
Last week, Leo approved the appointment of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 69, as the new dean of the College of Cardinals, a key position during a papal transition.
他还任命维托里奥·维奥拉大主教为梵蒂冈圣彼得大教堂的总祭司兼梵蒂冈城总监。虽然大多数红衣主教在教皇去世或辞职后会失去职务，但这些关键职务则会保留。
He also appointed Archbishop Vittorio Viola as Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican and Vicar General for Vatican City. While most cardinals lose their positions in the case of a papal death or resignation, these key roles remain in place.
伊丽莎白塔·波沃莱多是《泰晤士报》驻罗马记者，报道意大利、梵蒂冈及该地区的文化。她从事新闻工作已有35年。
Elisabetta Povoledo is a Times reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.