Pope Benedict XVI will meet with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, on Friday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The Dalai Lama met with Pope John Paul II at least nine times, including a 2003 visit that the Vatican kept low-key to avoid a further chill in its icy relations with China.
The Dalai Lama wants autonomy for Tibet, which China has occupied since 1951. He led about 80,000 Tibetans into exile in 1959, and heads a government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India.
