President Barzani to Meet Pope Leo XIV During Official Visit to Italy
Talks to focus on Kurdistan–Vatican ties, interfaith coexistence, and regional developments.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — President Masoud Barzani has been formally invited to Italy and is scheduled to meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Wednesday, as part of an official visit aimed at strengthening the Kurdistan Region's relations with the Vatican.
According to information obtained by Kurdistan24, President Barzani will hold talks at the Vatican with Pope Leo XIV, as well as meetings with senior Italian officials. Ano Jawhar, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Minister of Transportation and Communications, is accompanying Barzani during the visit.
The visit is primarily intended to further reinforce ties between the Kurdistan Region and the Vatican, building on previous official invitations extended to Kurdish delegations in recent years.
A key objective is also to initiate direct engagement with the newly elected pope and to highlight the Kurdistan Region’s role as a center of peace and religious coexistence in the Middle East.
The delegation is expected to underscore Kurdistan’s long-standing model of coexistence, where Christians, Muslims, Yazidis, and followers of other faiths live together peacefully.
Another central aim of the visit is to expand international support for the Kurdish people through strengthened diplomatic and moral engagement with global religious and political institutions.
The Vatican represents more than 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, giving the meeting added symbolic and diplomatic significance.
In addition to the Vatican meetings, President Barzani is expected to hold several political discussions with high-ranking Italian officials. These talks will address Kurdistan–Italy relations, broader developments in the Middle East, and recent attacks by armed groups affiliated with the Syrian Arab Army against Kurds in western Kurdistan (Rojava), including reports of mass killings and civilian casualties.
Mobilizing broader international support for the Kurds in Rojava is also expected to feature prominently on the agenda.