Pope Francis Open To Visit China, Meet With Dalai Lama

Pope Francis is not afraid of China.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church made this clarification during a mid-air news conference aboard the plane carrying him from Manila on the way back to Rome on Monday.

The Pope likewise denied reports that he refused to receive the visiting Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, in Rome last December over fears of upsetting China.

The 78-year-old Argentine Pope explained that a Vatican protocol bars him bars him from receiving foreign heads of state or high-ranking personalities visiting Rome for an international meeting. "Some newspapers said that I did not meet with him out of fear of China. This is not true. The usual protocol of the secretary of state is not to receive heads of state and high ranking personalities when they are in Rome for an international meeting," Pope Francis said.

"Thus, I did not receive anyone. My motive was not a rejection of the person or fear of China," he told journalists.

Last December, the Dalai Lama visited Rome to join a summit of Nobel Peace Prize recipients.

The Pope said he did not grant an audience with anyone when the Food and Agriculture Organization Summit was also held in Rome in November.

Pope Francis also disclosed that he is contact with the Tibetan leader and that a date has already been fixed for him to meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The Pope issued the clarification after a Vatican spokesman had said that although the Pope held the Dalai "in very high regard," the request had been declined "for obvious reasons."

Reporters then inferred that the Vatican did not want to jeopardize efforts to improve relations with China.

China describes the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet, as a separatist and reacts angrily when foreign dignitaries meet him.

Pope Francis also made clear that he wants peace with China, saying he is ready to visit the economic giant any time to forge closer ties between Vatican and Beijing.

"We are open and we want peace with everyone. The Chinese people are educated, we are also educated. We take the process step by step. They know I am willing to receive (an invitation) to China," Pope Francis said.

"(The Chinese) know that I am ready to go there (China) or to receive (Chinese officials) at the Vatican," he added.

As his plane returned to the Vatican from Manila, the Pontiff sent a telegram to Chinese President Xi Jinping, as he does for each country he flies over.

"I assure you of my prayers for you and the people of China, invoking abundant blessings of harmony and prosperity," his letter stated.

The Vatican has not had diplomatic relations with China since they were broken off by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1951.