VATICAN CITY — World Taekwondo President Choue Chung-won presented an honorary 10th dan certificate and dobok to Pope Leo during Wednesday’s General Audience, continuing the sport federation’s long-standing ties with the Vatican. Choue was accompanied by seven young refugee athletes from the Azraq and Za’atari camps in Jordan: Laour Fahed Alahmad, Marwa Ealawi Almahmoud Alshaeikh, Loujain Wesam Alrefaei, Sereen Mohammad Ghuzlan, Huda Khaled Alkhaled, Baraa Mohammad Aldamad and Remas Yaser Haji Ramadan. The refugees, all Syrian nationals, are between 7 and 14 years old. The meeting was Choue’s first with Pope Leo XIV since the pontiff’s election in May last year, and underscored World Taekwondo’s cooperation with the Vatican on sport development and humanitarian initiatives. The 10th dan is the highest rank in taekwondo; Choue praised the pope’s support for humanitarian causes and said the award reflected shared values of peace and human dignity. As Choue presented the dobok, he joked about the pope’s well-known enthusiasm for tennis and suggested he might wear the unif
