On Tuesday, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani received His Beatitude Mar Paulus III Nona, Patriarch of the Chaldean Church in Iraq and worldwide, who officially assumed office on May 29, 2026.

The Kurdistan Region Presidency said that their discussion centered on the general circumstances of the country’s communities, with particular attention to Christians, and stressed the need to preserve a culture of coexistence, mutual acceptance, and tolerance among the diverse communities of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

Moreover, President Nechirvan Barzani emphasized that Christians are an indigenous part of Kurdistan and reaffirmed his commitment to safeguarding their rights. He stressed that Kurdistan will always remain a homeland for all its communities, without distinction, and will continue to champion cultural pluralism.

Patriarch Nona, in turn, commended the historical and ongoing role of the Kurdistan Region as a sanctuary for all religious and ethnic communities and expressed his appreciation for President Nechirvan Barzani’s unwavering support for the rights of all communities.

Read More: Kurdish Leaders Congratulate New Chaldean Patriarch

In April, several Kurdish leaders sent congratulatory messages to Patriarch Nona on the occasion of his election as the new Patriarch of the Chaldean Church.

“On the occasion of your election as the new Patriarch of the Chaldean Church in the world, we extend our warmest congratulations to you and wish you success,” Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a statement at the time.