Vatican, in shift, says Pope won't meet Dalai Lama

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict has no plans to meet the Dalai Lama next month, the Vatican said on Monday in an about face from a previous position that irked China.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said "no audience is planned" between Benedict and the Dalai Lama and added there had never been an official, written statement of a meeting.

A Vatican official who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters in late October that the Pope would meet the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism on December 13.

The meeting during the Dalai Lama's visit to Italy, which would have been their second since Benedict's election in 2005, was widely reported in the world media.

Beijing's communist government responded early in November by saying such a meeting would "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" and urged the Pontiff to take action showing he "is sincere in improving relations".

The Dalai Lama has this year met U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House, as well as the leaders of Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

The diplomatic blitz has been met with a stream of vitriol from Chinese officials and state media, calling the 72-year-old a "splittist" bent on independence for Tibet and accusing him of orchestrating anti-Chinese activities in the remote region.

In New Delhi, a Dalai Lama representative said: "His Holiness's objective is to promote inter-religious harmony and he will not create any inconveniences for anybody."