Vatican City, Nov 27: Pope John Paul II met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Vatican for talks which focused exclusively on religion and did not broach Tibet's struggle for independence from China, the Vatican said.
"It was a short visit of an exclusively religious nature," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said of the meeting held yesterday.
"I told the pope of my admiration of what he has done for peace and religious harmony in the world," the Dalai Lama told reporters after a meeting later with the speaker of Italy's senate Marcello Pera.
The Vatican did not officially announce the pope's meeting with the Dalai, sandwiched between audiences with Bulgarian President Gueorgi Parvanov and the French bishops of Amiens and Beauvais, monsignors Jean-Luc Bouilleret and Jean-Paul James. Seen by China as a symbol of Tibetan nationalism, the Dalai Lama is visiting Italy at the invitation of an all-party group of parliamentarians, and will take part tomorrow in the fourth summit of Nobel peace laureates hosted by Rome's Mayor. Bureau Report