President Masoud Barzani Meets Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican
Talks emphasize peace, global stability, and dialogue on regional and international challenges.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — President Masoud Barzani met with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Wednesday, in a high-level meeting underscoring the importance of peace, stability, and dialogue amid ongoing regional and global challenges.
President Barzani was formally received by Pope Leo XIV, who extended a warm welcome during the meeting. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the encounter, describing it as an important opportunity to exchange views on key issues affecting the Middle East and the wider international community.
During the talks, President Barzani and Pope Leo XIV voiced their shared hope that peace and stability would prevail across the world, and that the suffering and hardships faced by people in conflict-affected regions would come to an end.
The meeting highlighted common humanitarian concerns and the need for continued efforts to promote coexistence, understanding, and dialogue among nations and faiths.
Following the meeting, Pope Leo XIV and President Barzani exchanged gifts as a gesture of mutual respect and goodwill.
The Vatican visit comes amid heightened diplomatic engagement by Kurdish leadership aimed at strengthening international ties and drawing attention to the Kurdistan Region’s role as a center of relative stability and religious coexistence in a volatile region.
The Kurdistan Region has long been recognized for hosting diverse religious and ethnic communities, including Christians, Muslims, Yazidis, and others, who have lived together peacefully, particularly during periods of widespread conflict in the Middle East.
President Barzani’s meeting with the Pope also carries symbolic significance, reinforcing Kurdistan’s humanitarian record and its advocacy for peaceful solutions, protection of minorities, and international cooperation in addressing regional crises.
According to information obtained by Kurdistan24, President Barzani’s visit to the Vatican also includes meetings with senior Italian officials, alongside his talks with Pope Leo XIV. Ano Jawhar, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Minister of Transportation and Communications, is accompanying the president during the trip.
The visit aims to further strengthen ties between the Kurdistan Region and the Vatican, building on previous official engagements with Kurdish delegations, while initiating direct contact with the newly elected pope.
Talks held during this visit are intended to highlight the Kurdistan Region’s role as a center of peace and religious coexistence in the Middle East, where Christians, Muslims, Yazidis, and other faith communities live together peacefully, and to seek broader international moral and diplomatic support.
The Vatican’s global influence, representing more than 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, adds significant symbolic and diplomatic weight to the visit. In parallel, discussions with Italian officials are set to cover Kurdistan–Italy relations, wider regional developments, and recent attacks on Kurds in western Kurdistan (Rojava), with mobilizing international support for civilians in the area also featuring prominently on the agenda.