Bob Dylan Meets With Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican

Musician and poet Bob Dylan visited the Vatican on Wednesday for a private audience with Pope Leo XIV. The meeting between the two American-born figures took place in the Apostolic Palace during a brief break in the musician's Italian concert tour.

During the encounter, the pontiff and the 85-year-old artist exchanged greetings and gifts. Pope Leo presented Dylan with a rosary, while the singer reciprocated with a copy of his autobiography, “Chronicles: Volume One.”

The meeting was arranged with the assistance of the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican official known for building relationships between the Catholic Church and cultural figures. Two Vatican officials accompanied Dylan, including Spadaro and Andrea Monda, the editor of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. Spadaro noted that the 71-year-old pope, who grew up in Chicago, was familiar with Dylan's repertoire.

Pope Leo previously quoted Dylan in the preface of a book published in July titled "Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift." The pope utilized lines from an unpublished 1963 anti-nuclear protest song written by Dylan titled "Go Away You Bomb." Leo referenced the lyrics to issue a warning against global rearmament and the ongoing threat of nuclear weapons, citing the verse: "I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned, an’ man-handled."

Dylan, who wore a black coat, black gloves, and a black hoodie over his head during the visit, is currently in Rome for the autumn leg of his "Rough and Rowdy Ways" tour. His itinerary also includes concert stops in Milan and Bologna, which feature a strict prohibition against smartphone recording.

This encounter marks the second time Dylan has met a pope at the Vatican. In 1997, the singer performed a selection of his classics, including "Blowin’ in the Wind" and "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door," before Pope John Paul II and an audience of approximately 300,000 young people during the 23rd National Eucharistic Congress in Bologna.