Pope Francis to Meet Dalai Lama

11:26     20 January, 2015

Pope Francis and Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama have decided the date of their meeting, reports Риа Новости. The Pope denied that he had refused to receive Dalai Lama in December fearing to upset China. "Some newspapers reported that I have not met him out of fear of China. It is not true,"- said Pope Francis.

The Pope said that Dalai Lama some time ago turned to him with a request for an audience. "A date has been fixed, but not for the moment. We are in contact," - he added, reports Inquirer.net.

In an answer to the question about the efforts to have closer ties between Vatican and China, the Pope said: "The Chinese are polite, and we are also polite. We are doing things step by step."