{"id":73811,"date":"2014-12-13T06:27:33","date_gmt":"2014-12-13T06:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=73811"},"modified":"2014-12-12T22:29:22","modified_gmt":"2014-12-12T22:29:22","slug":"pope-declines-dalai-lama-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/12\/pope-declines-dalai-lama-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope declines Dalai Lama meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"
Pope Francis will not meet the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama because of the “delicate situation” with China, the Vatican says.<\/p>\n
The Dalai Lama, who is visiting Rome, had requested a meeting.<\/p>\n
A Vatican spokesman said that although the Pope held him “in very high regard”, the request had been declined “for obvious reasons”.<\/p>\n
Correspondents say the Vatican does not want to jeopardise efforts to improve relations with China.<\/p>\n
China describes the Dalai Lama as a separatist and reacts angrily when foreign dignitaries meet him.<\/p>\n
The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet.<\/p>\n
He now advocates a “middle way” with China, seeking autonomy but not independence for Tibet. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.<\/p>\n
“Pope Francis obviously holds the Dalai Lama in very high regard but he will not be meeting any of the Nobel laureates,” a Vatican spokesman said. He added that the Pope would send a video message to the conference.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n