Bob Dylan Meets Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican During His Italian Tour Stop in Rome

Bob Dylan got a private audience with Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The two met at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City during a break in the singer’s Italian tour, Vatican News reported. The meeting was brief, with greetings and a few lighthearted exchanges. The pope gave Dylan a rosary, and Dylan gave the pope a copy of his memoir, “Chronicles: Volume One.”

Photos released by the Vatican showed the two in the pope’s office. Dylan wore a black coat, black gloves and a black hooded sweatshirt, according to Reuters, as published by The Irish Times. Pitchfork reported that he wore the hood up over a black baseball cap. Another photo appeared to show him signing a book for the pope, with one glove off.

How old is Bob Dylan?

Dylan is 85, according to Vatican News. He was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota. The Vatican’s newspaper used that birth name, saying Leo had “received in private audience Mr Robert Allen Zimmerman,” Reuters reported.

Pope Leo, 71, is originally from Chicago, Reuters noted. Reuters called the two “fellow travellers from the US Midwest.”

Why Bob Dylan was in Rome

Dylan is touring Italy as part of the fall leg of his “Rough and Rowdy Ways” tour, which also includes stops in Milan and Bologna. He was scheduled to play Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport on Thursday, Nov. 5, Vatican News reported. The outlet noted that the shows strictly ban smartphone recording.

The pope is a Dylan fan

The meeting had some backstory. Leo is known to be a Dylan fan, Reuters reported. In July, he quoted a little-known 1963 Dylan anti-nuclear song, “Go Away You Bomb,” in the preface to a book published by the Vatican’s publishing house.

Vatican News gave the book’s English title as “Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift,” while Pitchfork rendered it “Unarmed and Disarming.” The line the pope quoted, as printed by Vatican News: “I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned, an’ man-handled.”

Dylan never officially recorded or released the song, and the original manuscript stayed unpublished until it was found in 2013, according to Vatican News.

Who set up the meeting?

The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican official and Jesuit known for building ties between the church and the entertainment world, said on Instagram that he helped arrange the meeting, Reuters reported. “It was hard not to feel the emotion of being part of an encounter that had a real sense of history about it,” he wrote. He added that “at every step through the Apostolic Palace, absolutely anything could happen!”

The Vatican press office did not immediately comment on what the two discussed.

Not Dylan’s first papal encounter

In 1997, Dylan performed for Pope John Paul II at the National Eucharistic Congress in Bologna, before a crowd Vatican News put at about 300,000 young people. After playing three songs, including “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” he took off his cowboy hat, climbed to the papal stage and shook the pope’s hand. John Paul II then quoted “Blowin’ in the Wind” in his address.

Pitchfork noted that Dylan, raised Jewish, converted to evangelical Christianity in 1978 and released a run of Christian albums before turning away from overtly religious material in later years. Leo also welcomed another rock figure, Patti Smith, in July, Pitchfork reported.

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