Pope Francis Dedicated Himself to Serving Others: Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (L) and Pope Francis (R). X/ @weredstar
April 22, 2025 Hour: 3:19 am
The best tribute we can pay Pope Francis is to be kind-hearted people, the Dalai Lama stated.
On Monday night, the Dalai Lama expressed his condolences over the death of Pope Francis, emphasizing that he consistently acted “revealing through his own actions how to live a simple yet transcendent life.”
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“The best tribute we can pay him is to be kind-hearted people and to serve others wherever and however we can,” added the spiritual leader, who currently lives in exile in India.
“His Holiness, Pope Francis, dedicated himself to the service of others,” said the religious leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who offered his prayers and condolences to Pope Francis’s “spiritual brothers” and to his followers around the world.
Tenzin Gyatso, 89 years old and the Dalai Lama since 1940, is based in the city of Dharamshala in northern India, along with the Tibetan government-in-exile. The religious leader, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, went into exile in India along with thousands of his compatriots in 1959, following the failed popular uprising in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.
The Dalai Lama was born on July 6, 1935, in Taktser, eastern Tibet, and at the age of two became the spiritual head of his people after being recognized as the reincarnation of his predecessor. His succession remains uncertain, as according to Buddhist tradition, it must occur in Tibet through his “reincarnation.”
Beijing declared in December 2024 that the successor to the Dalai Lama “must be sought within China and receive approval from the central government.” However, Gyatso recently made it clear in his latest book, published in March of this year, that his successor could “reincarnate” outside of China.
In 2014, Pope Francis canceled a meeting with the Dalai Lama in Rome, stating that such a meeting could “create problems between China and the Vatican.” Pope John Paul II received Tenzin Gyatso in a private audience in 2003, which was conducted with the utmost discretion to avoid raising concerns in Beijing.
Pope Francis, 88 years old and whose health had weakened in recent months, passed away on Monday at 7:35 a.m. Rome time at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta. The confirmed cause of death was a stroke.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE