世界各国政要出席教宗方济的即位弥撒

The Vatican is prepared for a huge crowd Tuesday as Pope Francis hosts political leaders from 130 nations and representatives from a variety of religions for his installation Mass.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pack St. Peter\'s Square for the celebration, which formally installs Francis as the new leader of the world\'s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

Among the high-level guests, the spiritual leader of the world\'s Orthodox Christians, Bartholomew, is expected to attend.  He would be the first patriarch from the Istanbul-based church to witness a papal inauguration since the two branches of Christianity split nearly 1,000 years ago.

More than 30 delegations of other Christian churches, as well as representatives from the Jewish, Muslim and various other faiths, also will attend.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner arrived prior to Tuesday, in order to meet with the new pope, who hails from her country.  U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, a Catholic, also is one of the political leaders in attendance.

预计将有数十万人聚集在圣彼得广场参加庆祝仪式，届时教宗方济将正式成为全世界12亿罗马天主教徒的领袖。

在高层来宾中，预计东正教领袖巴塞洛缪将出席仪式。自从基督教于将近1千年前分为罗马天主教和东正教两支以来，这将是伊斯坦布尔东正教教廷领袖首次出席罗马天主教教宗的即位典礼。

来自其他基督教会的30多个代表团以及犹太教、伊斯兰教和其他教派的代表们也将出席仪式。