"Papal" is the adjective for the Pope — the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Anything that belongs to him, comes from him, or is done by him can be called papal: a papal visit, a papal letter, papal authority, the papal apartments, a papal blessing.

"Papal"「Papal」 is the adjective for the Pope是教宗的形容詞—— the head of the Roman Catholic Church也就是羅馬天主教會的領袖。Anything that belongs to him, comes from him, or is done by him只要是屬於他、來自他，或是他做的事， can be called papal都可以叫做 papal： a papal visit, a papal letter, papal authority, the papal apartments, a papal blessing像 a papal visit（教宗訪問）、a papal letter（教宗文告）、papal authority（教宗的權威）、the papal apartments（教宗寓所）、a papal blessing（教宗的祝福）。

It is a formal word. It lives in news reports, history books, and church language, and you would rarely hear it in casual talk; in conversation people just say "the Pope's".

It is a formal word.這是一個正式的字。It lives in news reports, history books, and church language它出現在新聞報導、歷史書和教會用語裡， and you would rarely hear it in casual talk平常聊天很少聽到； in conversation people just say "the Pope's"口語裡人們就直接說「the Pope's」。

Notice what it does grammatically, because this is the useful part for a student: English has no easy possessive adjective for most nouns, but for some important words it borrows a Latin one. Papal is that word for Pope, the way royal is for king and queen. So "a papal decision" and "the Pope's decision" mean much the same, but the first sounds official and the second sounds like speech.

Notice what it does grammatically注意它在文法上做的事， because this is the useful part for a student因為這對學生來說才是有用的地方： English has no easy possessive adjective for most nouns英文對大部分名詞都沒有現成的所有格形容詞， but for some important words it borrows a Latin one但對一些重要的字，它會借用拉丁文的一個。Papal is that word for Popepapal 就是 Pope 的那個字， the way royal is for king and queen就像 royal 是 king 和 queen 的那個字一樣。So "a papal decision" and "the Pope's decision"所以「a papal decision」和「the Pope's decision」 mean much the same意思差不多一樣， but the first sounds official and the second sounds like speech但第一個聽起來比較正式，第二個聽起來比較像口語。

One more thing: papal describes the office and the person, not the belief. A person is Catholic, not papal.

One more thing還有一件事： papal describes the office and the personpapal 形容的是那個職位和那個人本身， not the belief而不是信仰。A person is Catholic一個人是 Catholic（天主教徒）， not papal而不是 papal。