Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has welcomed His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Lambeth Palace today as part of the his visit to Britain.In a meeting that has taken on a controversial political tone, the Archbishop held a private meeting with the Dalai Lama before they joined other religious leaders from the main faith traditions for discussions on the priority of compassion.
The Prime Minister also had a private meeting with the Dalai Lama today at Lambeth Palace.
But it was that meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown that had angered many politicians.
They argued that Mr Brown should have met with the Dalai Lama in an official meeting in Downing Street.
The Lambeth meeting, they suggested, was an attempt to appease the Chinese.
Speaking of the meeting of the Dalai Lama with the faith leaders the Archbishop said: “The religious leaders who had gathered to welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama listened with great appreciation to what he had to say about the priority of compassion in all our religious traditions. He also spoke about the need for all of us to engage with our culture not only in the vocabulary of our specific convictions but out of a recognition of a common humanity – a ‘secular ethics’ alongside the doctrines and disciplines of faith.”
The official statement went on: “A warm and searching discussion took place, and the meeting ended with a time of shared silence. It was a privilege to have this opportunity of engaging with a great spiritual teacher.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce