Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama met Pope Benedict XVI on Friday in a private meeting which the Vatican played down for diplomatic reasons.
The visit was "private" and focused exclusively on "religious" matters, a Vatican spokesman said.
According to Vatican watchers, the visit was kept as low key as possible in order to avoid angering China, with which the Catholic Church has an already strained relationship.
The pope's meeting with the Tibetan leader was not listed among his official audiences. Journalists were kept well away and no pictures of the encounter have been
released.
The Vatican broke off relations with China in 1951, after the Communist revolution, and since then the country's roughly eight million Catholics faithful to Rome have been persecuted and driven underground.
The Dalai Lama is seen by Beijing as a "political plotter" who aims to split the country. He does not recognise Chinese rule in Tibet and in 1989 won the Nobel peace prize for his non-violent opposition to it.
Neither the Vatican nor the Dalai Lama gave any indication that their respective grievances had been discussed during today's meeting.
The 71-year-old leader has abandoned former demands for full independence for the six million Tibetans and now calls for a "one country, two systems" formula which would preserve
Tibet's culture and spirituality.
He arrived in Italy earlier this week for a visit, which includes meetings with institutional figures but not the president or premier.
On Thursday he met the Senate Speaker Franco Marini and House Speaker Fausto Bertinotti, explaining that his people is "not asking for independence but real autonomy".
"Now in Tibet there is greater repression and I am considered a separatist, while in fact I work for unity," he continued.
Bertinotti said he "fully supported the (Dali Lama's) non-violent battle".
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since 1959, when he fled Tibet following a failed revolt against Chinese rule.
He met the previous pope, John Paul II, eight times.
