ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – President Masoud Barzani on Thursday was honored with a papal order of knighthood by Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako of the Chaldean Catholic Church, in recognition for the Kurdish leader’s “outstanding role” in promoting peace and human values.

The award was granted during a meeting with the Chaldean patriarch on Thursday, in which Cardinal Sako praised Barzani for his stances in protecting the Christian minority and other ethnic and religious groups in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, according to a statement from Barzani Headquarters.

Sako said that he had requested Pope Leo XIV to award Barzani the “highest papal honor,” in recognition for his “outstanding role in promoting peace and protecting human values.”

Originally founded in 1560, the Order of Pope Pius IX, is a papal order of knighthood and the highest active honor conferred by the Holy See.

For his part, Barzani expressed gratitude to the Pope and Cardinal Sako, highlighting “the pride of the people of Kurdistan in their rich heritage of upholding a culture of coexistence, harmony, and peace.”

The Kurdish leader further stressed the need to preserve “values of brotherhood and solidarity” among the components of Kurdistan, noting that “actions are the true standard for evaluating a person, not belief and religious affiliation.”

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani congratulated the Kurdish leader on receiving the award, dubbing him “a symbol of peace and coexistence and a defender of the religious and national rights of all the diverse communities of Kurdistan and Iraq.”

“Under the leadership of President Barzani, the Kurdistan Region will, as always, remain an important and thriving center of peaceful coexistence in the region and the world,” the premier added.

President Barzani has long championed religious minority rights in the Kurdistan Region, promoting coexistence and harmony as inseparable elements of Kurdish identity.

In January, President Barzani was received by Pope Leo XIV during an official visit to the Vatican, during which they “wished that peace and stability would prevail in the world and that an end would be brought to the suffering and misery of people.”

The Kurdish leader also visited the Vatican in 2014 and met with the late Pope Francis.

The late Pope visited the Kurdistan Region in 2021, meeting with Kurdish leaders and expressing his gratitude to the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) for their efforts to protect Christians from attacks by the Islamic State (ISIS).

During his historic visit to Erbil, he addressed a crowd of 10,000 at the Franso Hariri stadium, celebrating Christians in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq and urging interfaith tolerance.