World Taekwondo awards Pope Leo XIV an honorary 10th dan, the highest distinction in taekwondo
World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue presented Pope Leo XIV with an honorary 10th dan certificate and a traditional taekwondo dobok during the general audience in the Vatican held on Wednesday, 3 June 2026. This is the highest rank in taekwondo, and the presentation was described as a continuation of many years of cooperation between the international taekwondo federation and the Vatican in the fields of sport, peace and humanitarian programmes. According to a report by The Korea Times, Choue handed the recognition to the Pope as part of a meeting that was also their first official encounter since Leo XIV was elected head of the Catholic Church. In this way, World Taekwondo symbolically connected the sporting recognition with a message about dignity, solidarity and the inclusion of children from refugee communities.
The awarding of the honorary 10th dan was not conceived as a sporting competitive recognition in the usual sense, but as the highest honorary gesture of the world governing organisation of taekwondo. The Korea Times states that during the meeting Choue thanked the Pope for encouraging humanitarian activities and highlighted the shared values of peace and human dignity. Along with the certificate, a dobok, the traditional uniform for taekwondo training, was also presented, which further emphasised the symbolism of the meeting. According to the same report, the Pope praised the work of World Taekwondo and the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation with refugees, and described the meeting with children from refugee camps as a joyful moment.
The meeting in the Vatican and the humanitarian message of sport
The central part of the meeting was not only the awarding of the honorary recognition, but also the presentation of the humanitarian work carried out by World Taekwondo through the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation. According to The Korea Times, Choue came to the audience accompanied by seven young Syrian taekwondo athletes from the Jordanian refugee camps Azraq and Za’atari. The report listed the children’s names: Laour Fahed Alahmad, Marwa Ealawi Almahmoud Alshaeikh, Loujain Wesam Alrefaei, Sereen Mohammad Ghuzlan, Huda Khaled Alkhaled, Baraa Mohammad Aldamad and Remas Yaser Haji Ramadan. According to the available information, these are children aged from seven to fourteen, and their arrival in Rome is connected with a humanitarian initiative that enables young refugees to take part in sporting events outside the camps.
Ahead of the Roman competition week, Vatican News reported that the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation had enabled a group of young athletes from the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan to participate in the Kim & Liù tournament, organised alongside the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Rome. The announcement stated that the Azraq camp currently receives about 60,000 people and that the children were being given the opportunity to travel outside the camp for the first time thanks to a project also supported by the Italian Taekwondo Federation. The same source states that the stay in Rome also included a meeting with Pope Leo XIV and a tour of the city’s cultural and historical sites. The number of children in the Vatican News announcement and in the report from the audience differs, so it is most precise to speak of a group of young refugee athletes, with the note that The Korea Times reported from the audience about seven children.
The humanitarian context is important for understanding why this recognition was awarded precisely on the eve of a major sporting programme in Rome. The Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation states that since 2016 it has used taekwondo as a tool of rehabilitation, empowerment and social inclusion for refugees and displaced persons. According to the foundation’s own data, programmes are carried out in refugee camps on several continents and include more than 1,500 refugees annually. The foundation emphasises that through training, equipment, educational content and sports centres, it seeks to give young people a safer space for the development of self-confidence, discipline and a sense of belonging. Within that framework, the meeting with the Pope is not only a protocol act, but a public recognition of sport as a possible tool for working with children affected by war, poverty and forced displacement.
Pope Leo XIV and the continuation of Vatican sports diplomacy
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, was elected the 267th successor of Saint Peter on 8 May 2025, according to the official biography of the Holy See. The Vatican states that he is the first Pope from the United States of America and the first Augustinian at the head of the Catholic Church. Before his election as Pope, he served as a missionary in Peru, was Bishop of Chiclayo, and later Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. These biographical details are important because his pontificate has from the beginning been linked with themes of missionary work, social responsibility, dialogue and care for vulnerable groups.
The awarding of the honorary 10th dan fits into the wider pattern of Vatican sports diplomacy, in which sport is used as a space of encounter, education and the promotion of peace. Vatican News, in its announcement of the Roman project, emphasised that initiatives like this connect sporting values with concrete action in sensitive social circumstances. Angelo Cito, President of the Italian Taekwondo Federation, according to Vatican News, stressed that Olympic values must not remain merely declarative, but must be turned into concrete actions, especially when it comes to children affected by war and discrimination. Such a message corresponds with the Vatican’s long-standing effort to present sport as a form of social connection, and not only as competition.
In the Roman context, taekwondo is particularly visible also because of the role of Athletica Vaticana, the official sports organisation of the Holy See. According to the report by The Korea Times, Athletica Vaticana, that is Vatican Taekwondo, is one of the members of World Taekwondo and was officially recognised at the federation’s General Assembly in 2021. This connection made it possible for cooperation between the Vatican and the international taekwondo community to continue even after the pontificate of Pope Francis. In practical terms, this is a network of sporting, humanitarian and diplomatic contacts connecting the Vatican, the Italian Taekwondo Federation, World Taekwondo and refugee programmes in Jordan, Rwanda, Türkiye and other countries.
The legacy of relations between World Taekwondo and the Vatican
World Taekwondo and the Vatican have been cooperating for almost a decade, and the current award to Pope Leo XIV builds on earlier meetings with Pope Francis. An official World Taekwondo announcement from 2017 states that on 10 May of that year Chungwon Choue presented Pope Francis in the Vatican with an honorary 10th dan, likewise the highest rank in taekwondo. On that occasion, according to World Taekwondo, Pope Francis showed interest in the humanitarian activities of the taekwondo community, especially in the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation, which at the time was a young organisation based in Lausanne. The same report states that after the meeting Choue pointed out that he had had the opportunity to present the sport and the federation’s global humanitarian activities to the Pope.
Cooperation did not remain limited only to protocol meetings. World Taekwondo recalled that the federation’s demonstration team performed in the Vatican in 2016 at the first global conference on faith and sport, and then again in 2018 in St Peter’s Square during Pope Francis’s general audience. These performances had a strong symbolic dimension because taekwondo was presented as a sport that can convey messages of discipline, respect, self-control and reconciliation. According to Vatican and sporting sources, it was precisely this combination of martial discipline and humanitarian work that enabled taekwondo in the Vatican to be viewed more broadly than through a competitive framework.
An important element of that legacy is also work with refugees. The Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation states on its website that the programme in the Azraq camp in Jordan has been active since 2016, and that the humanitarian centre was opened in 2018 so that children could train safely. In April 2026, World Taekwondo announced that the number of black belt holders among refugee athletes in Azraq had risen to 162, which shows that the programme is not a one-off promotional activity, but a long-term sports and educational project. In such a context, the arrival of children from the camps in Rome and the Vatican carries the meaning of visibility for young people who otherwise live outside the main international sporting stages.
The Rome Grand Prix as the background to the meeting
The awarding of the honorary 10th dan took place in a week in which Rome is hosting a series of major taekwondo events. The Italian Taekwondo Federation announced that from 4 to 7 June 2026 the Rome 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix is being held at Foro Italico, together with the World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix. According to the federation’s programme, the para taekwondo competition is being held on 4 June, while the main World Taekwondo Grand Prix is scheduled from 5 to 7 June. The event has been announced as one of the most prestigious competitions in the international taekwondo calendar, with the participation of top athletes and an additional emphasis on inclusion, young people and technological innovation.
The Korea Times states that the Kim & Liù tournament will be held in parallel with the main programme, which will give young refugee athletes the opportunity to perform in the same sporting space in which top taekwondo fighters compete. Vatican News had earlier reported that the tournament is being organised as part of the World Taekwondo Grand Prix programme and that it gives young people from refugee camps a chance to experience the atmosphere of a major international competition. In sporting terms, such a performance cannot be compared with professional senior finals, but in social terms it carries a strong message of inclusion. Children who train in the camps thereby gain the experience of travel, public performance and international recognition that would be difficult for them to access without such programmes.
The Italian Taekwondo Federation further emphasises that the Roman programme is taking place in the year marking the 60th anniversary of taekwondo in Italy. The motto of the 2026 edition is “Reborn, Together”, which the organisers interpret as a call for renewal and togetherness. Within that framework, the meeting of Choue, Pope Leo XIV and young athletes from the camps gained additional symbolic weight because it connects elite sport, humanitarian work and the religious-diplomatic space of the Vatican. According to the available information, this is not an isolated event, but part of a wider Roman programme that seeks to connect Olympic, Paralympic and socially inclusive sport.
The honorary 10th dan as a symbol, not a sporting result
In taekwondo, dan ranks are traditionally associated with high degrees of mastery, experience and contribution to the sport. When an international federation awards an honorary 10th dan to a public figure, the emphasis is not on the recipient’s competitive career, but on symbolic recognition of his public activity and of the values that are to be highlighted. The Korea Times states that in the case of Pope Leo XIV, Choue connected the recognition with the Pope’s encouragement of humanitarian activities and with the values of peace and human dignity. That is why the award can be read as a message from the sporting movement that global authorities can help give visibility to programmes intended for children and refugees.
A similar logic was applied in 2017 when the honorary 10th dan was presented to Pope Francis. At that time, according to the official World Taekwondo report, the meeting was also connected with the presentation of the humanitarian activities of the taekwondo community. In both cases, the recognition was not directed at the Pope’s personal sporting biography, but at the role that the Vatican can have in promoting peace, solidarity and care for vulnerable groups. In this way, World Taekwondo maintains continuity in its relationship with the Holy See, while also using the high visibility of papal audiences to draw attention to refugee and children’s programmes.
The award to Pope Leo XIV comes at a time when sport is increasingly used as a platform for social messages, especially in work with displaced persons. According to data from the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation, taekwondo in its programmes is conceived as a means of rehabilitation and empowerment, and not only as a martial art. Programmes in the camps seek to connect physical activity, educational values, discipline and a sense of community. When such projects are presented in the Vatican, their reach moves beyond sporting circles and enters the wider space of humanitarian and public diplomacy.
Broader significance for taekwondo and refugee programmes
For World Taekwondo, the recognition of Pope Leo XIV has multiple value. On the one hand, it confirms the long-standing institutional link with the Vatican and Athletica Vaticana. On the other hand, it gives additional international visibility to the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation in the year in which the foundation marks its tenth anniversary of work. Vatican News states that the foundation’s programmes are aimed at empowerment, peace, sustainability and Olympic values, and Angelo Cito in the Vatican text particularly emphasised that sport can be a space of connection in a time of growing inequalities and conflicts. Such a framework explains why the meeting with the Pope was presented as more than a courteous sporting visit.
For children from refugee camps, participation in the Roman programme has a more immediate significance. According to the Vatican News announcement, it is an opportunity for them to leave the camp, compete in an organised international environment and get to know Rome. According to The Korea Times, their presence at the general audience was part of the commemoration of ten years of activity by the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation. These details show that the event was carefully connected with a humanitarian message, and not only with the formal presentation of recognition to the Pope. In public, it sends the message that sport can create concrete opportunities for children whose lives have been marked by war and displacement.
Although the honorary 10th dan in itself will not change the circumstances in refugee camps, its importance lies in the visibility it gives to the programmes carried out there. According to official announcements by the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation and World Taekwondo, the work in Azraq has lasted for years and includes training sessions, centres, competitions, belt tests and the expansion of sporting activities beyond taekwondo itself. The meeting in the Vatican can therefore be seen as a public moment in a long-term process in which sporting organisations are trying to assume part of the responsibility for the social inclusion of young refugees. In that sense, the award to Pope Leo XIV is less a story about an honorary belt, and more about an attempt to open space, through sport, religious authority and international cooperation, for children who are most often outside the centre of attention.
Sources:
- The Korea Times – report on the awarding of the honorary 10th dan to Pope Leo XIV, the participants in the audience and the Roman sporting programme (link)
- Vatican News – announcement of the participation of young refugee athletes in the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Rome and the meeting with Pope Leo XIV (link)
- The Holy See – official biography of Pope Leo XIV and information on his election on 8 May 2025 (link)
- World Taekwondo – official announcement on the earlier presentation of the honorary 10th dan to Pope Francis and relations between the federation and the Vatican (link)
- Federazione Italiana Taekwondo – official programme of the Rome 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix and World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix at Foro Italico (link)
- Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation – official data on the mission, refugee programmes and work since 2016 (link)