One way to picture it: someone speaking from the highest seat in the room, where a word from them is meant to close the question. One branch of the word stays inside the church and simply says whose something is — the Pope's, or a bishop's. The other branch takes the manner instead of the office, and hands it to anyone at all who talks that way.
可以想成一個站在最高座位上說話的人。他一開口，事情就算定了。底下的人多半只是聽。這個畫面往兩邊長。一邊還留在教會裡：屬於教宗的、屬於主教的那些東西，正式而且有身分。另一邊搬到一般人身上：講話擺出那種「我說了算」的姿態。同一個畫面，一邊講的是身分，一邊講的是口氣。
From the word’s history
The packet's Wiktionary tree derives pontifical from Latin pontificalis, from pontifex, the Roman high priest, built on ponts (bridge) plus a maker element — literally a bridge-maker, someone standing between people and gods.
字源樹顯示 pontifical 借自拉丁文 pontificālis，來自 pontifex（古羅馬的大祭司）。pontifex 傳統上被拆成「橋」加上「做」，也就是「造橋的人」。可以想成：這個職位站在人和神中間替兩邊搭橋，所以他說的話特別有份量。
Wiktionary, "pontifical"
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