Courtney McGrail
Pope Francis declined to meet the Dalai Lama because of the "delicate situation" with China, the Vatican has said.
The exiled Tibetan leader, who was in Rome at the weekend for a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize winners, had requested a meeting with the Pontiff.
A Vatican spokesman said that although the Pope held him "in very high regard", the request had been declined "for obvious reasons".
It is understood 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.
"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.
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".
