Cape Town - Premier Helen Zille has slated the decision of Pope Francis to decline the Dalai Lama’s request to meet him, saying the leader of millions of Christians around the world should have known better.
The pope has denied the Dalai Lama a private audience for “obvious reasons concerning the delicate situation” with China, a Vatican spokesman said.
Zille said: “The only thing that seems obvious here is expediency. If there is one person on the planet who should do the principled rather than the expedient thing, it is surely the pope. Or do relationships with China outweigh other injunctions?”
Catholic Archbishop of Cape Town Stephen Brislin said the pope’s move was to prevent the “persecution” of Christians in China.
He said the Catholic church in China was divided into two communities – an official church known as the Patriotic Association answerable to the Communist Party, and an underground church he described as “loyal to the Vatican”.
He said a serious bone of contention between China and the Vatican was which side would decide the appointment of bishops.
“With the church, this is not a political issue. It is not about degrading the Dalai Lama or the difficulties in Tibet, this is out of concern for the church. The pope is trying to bring unity to the church.”
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said he was “deeply saddened and distressed” that Pope Francis had given in to Chinese pressure by declining to meet the Dalai Lama and appealed for him to reconsider his position.
“I am very aware of the dilemma in which so many have been finding themselves with regard to their relationships with His Holiness and the People’s Republic of China,” he said.
“Had I been fit enough to travel to Rome to attend the Nobel Peace Laureates summit, and had the opportunity arisen to meet the pope, I would not have been able to do so in solidarity with someone held in such high regard by so many people across the world.”
Tutu described the Dalai Lama as a holy man who spoke about peace, co-existence and compassion.
“He heads a large section of humankind, who are Buddhists. What he seeks for his people is not secession from China, but autonomy that is provided in the Chinese constitution so that they can carry out their customs, language, literature, music and faith, which are under great threat,” he said.
Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said Rome mayor Ignazio Marino was approached by Chinese officials to move the event out of the city because of the Dalai Lama’s attendance.
She said Marino refused and the 14th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates went ahead last weekend.
In October the summit, due to be held in Cape Town, was suspended and moved to Rome as a result of a planned boycott by a number of delegates who were unhappy about the Dalai Lama not being able to obtain a visa to enter the country.
At the time the Department of International Relations and Co-operation said the Dalai Lama had not been refused a visa. While the government was considering his application, he had withdrawn it and cancelled his trip.
De Lille said she had apologised at the summit for the “despicable behaviour” of the South African government.
“It is so wrong for China to interfere in the diplomatic and foreign relations of other countries and dictate to them. I spent an hour with the Dalai Lama and the man is harmless, he is a fighter for the ideals of the Tibetan people,” said De Lille, adding that “internal Chinese matters should not be fought through other countries”.
She said the government had announced that it would allow the Dalai Lama into the country in March and would follow up on that.
Cape Times