Pope declines Dalai Lama meeting in Rome,Italy Friday Dec 12,2014

Pope Francis denies Dalai Lama an audience because of China concerns

 

Pope Francis will not meet the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama because of the "delicate situation" with China, the Vatican says.

The Dalai Lama, who is visiting Rome, had requested a meeting.The Dalai Lama is in Rome for a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize winners. It was initially to be held in South Africa but was relocated to Rome after South Africa refused the Dalai Lama a visa.

A Vatican spokesman said that although the Pope held him "in very high regard", the request had been declined "for obvious reasons".

A spokesman for the Dalai Lama said he was "disappointed at not being able to call on His Holiness the Pope but he does not want to cause any inconvenience".

It is said that the Vatican does not want to jeopardise efforts to improve relations with China.
China describes the Dalai Lama as a separatist and reacts angrily when foreign dignitaries meet him.

The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet.

Dalai Lama now advocates a "middle way" with China, seeking autonomy but not independence for Tibet. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

The last time the Dalai Lama was granted a papal audience was in 2006 when he met former Pope Benedict XVI.