The Vatican cancelled a meeting between the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis to prevent having possible conflicts with China, according to the Telegraph.
The two religious leaders were supposed to meet on Friday as part of the Dalai Lama's visit to Italy for an event with recipients of the Nobel Prize. Pope Francis was also scheduled to meet with the laureates, but Vatican officials cancelled his appearance in the event to avoid troubles with China.
"This time I will not meet Pope Francis," the Dalai Lama told ANSA, an Italian news agency. "The Vatican says it is not possible because there could be problems."
Since the Pope will not be able to participate in the event, a special video message from him will be sent instead, according to Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi.
"Pope Francis obviously holds the Dalai Lama in very high regard but he will not be meeting any of the Nobel laureates," Lombardi said in a statement.
The Vatican decided to cancel the meeting between the two to avoid causing potential problems for China's Catholic community.
The issue between the Vatican and China stems from the latter's strong disapproval of the Dalai Lama's efforts to push for the independence of Tibet, DW reported.
In 1959, nine years after the region was annexed by China, the Dalai Lama led a revolution with Tibetans against China in an effort to attain national autonomy.
However, due to the failure of the uprising, the Buddhist leader along with around 100,000 Tibetans was exiled to China. Since then, the Chinese government has strongly objected to world leaders forming ties with the Dalai Lama.
Like the Vatican, South Africa also avoided interacting with the Buddhist leader due to fears that it might anger China. Originally, the conference for the Nobel laureates was supposed to be conducted in South Africa, but the country's government denied the Dalai Lama from obtaining a visa.
