Archbishop welcomes His Holiness, the Dalai Lama to Lambeth Palace for meeting of Faith Leaders
The Dalai Lama & the Archbishop of CanterburyFriday 23rd May 2008
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, welcomed His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Lambeth Palace today as part of his visit to Britain.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.
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. 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."
The visit was the second time Archbishop Williams has received the Dalai Lama at Lambeth Palace. Prior to this, the Dalai Lama met Archbishop Runcie in 1981, 1984 & 1988 and Archbishop Carey in 1993 & 1999 – all at Lambeth Palace.