The Dalai Lama will be greeted in Dunedin this month by an interfaith welcoming party at St Paul's Cathedral.
The Dunedin Interfaith Council, which represents a range of faiths and religious traditions, will welcome the spiritual leader on the cathedral steps at 9am on June 11.
''After writing to seek a formal audience with the Dalai Lama to discuss interfaith matters, the Dunedin Interfaith Council was delighted to be granted this historic opportunity to meet His Holiness at the start of his Dunedin visit,'' council secretary Suzanne Gillies said yesterday.
The visit by the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, drew controversy last month when Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull refused to meet the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize-winner, describing him as ''the leader of a minority sect''.
The comment prompted criticism and protests by Dunedin's Buddhist community, Students for a Free Tibet and the Organisation for Global Nonviolent Action.
The Dalai Lama was given a civic welcome to Dunedin on his two previous visits; by Mayor Richard Walls in 1992 and Mayor Sukhi Turner in 1996.
Dunedin city councillor Jinty McTavish subsequently offered to meet the Dalai Lama.
''Given the strong public interest in His Holiness' visit, it seemed appropriate to balance the civic welcome from councillor Jinty McTavish with a public welcome by the Interfaith Council on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral on the Octagon,'' Dalai Lama Visit Trust New Zealand spokesman Neil Cameron said from Auckland yesterday.
The University of Otago also admitted having concerns at the implications of hosting a talk by the Tibetan spiritual leader, before deciding to hold a talk at St David Lecture Theatre due to ''academic freedom''.
Dame Sukhi Turner will introduce the Dalai Lama at the Dunedin Town Hall before his public talk, ''Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World'', at 12.30pm on June 11.
The Dalai Lama will also hold public talks in Christchurch, on June 9, and Auckland, on June 12, during his New Zealand visit.
