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Pope Leo XIV met renowned American singer-songwriter and Nobel laureate Bob Dylan at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, where the two exchanged gifts during a brief meeting, Vatican News reported.
The 85-year-old musician, whose real name is Robert Allen Zimmerman, is currently in Italy as part of the autumn leg of his 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' tour. He is scheduled to perform at Rome's Palazzo dello Sport on Thursday, November 5, with the tour also including stops in Milan and Bologna. According to Vatican News, the meeting involved greetings and a few lighthearted exchanges. Dylan, who wore a black hooded sweatshirt, received a rosary from the Pope, while he presented the Pontiff with a copy of his autobiography, 'Chronicles: Volume One'. The meeting comes months after Pope Leo XIV quoted Dylan's lyrics in the preface to a book on disarmament published by the Vatican Publishing House (LEV), titled 'Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift'. In the preface, written in July 2026, the Pope cited verses from Dylan's protest song 'Go Away You Bomb' to underline the dangers of global rearmament and nuclear weapons. The lyrics quoted by the Pontiff read: "I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned, an' man-handled". Written in 1963, at the height of Cold War tensions, 'Go Away You Bomb' is a distinctive composition in Dylan's body of work. The song was never officially recorded or released on a music album, while its original manuscript remained unpublished until its discovery in 2013, Vatican News reported. This is not the first time Dylan has met a Pope. In 1997, the singer performed at the 23rd National Eucharistic Congress in Bologna before Pope John Paul II and an audience of approximately 300,000 young people. Dylan performed three of his well-known songs, including 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door', before removing his cowboy hat and walking up the steps to the papal stage to exchange a handshake and a few words with the Pope, Vatican News reported. During his address to the gathering, John Paul II also referred to Dylan's song 'Blowin' in the Wind', quoting the lyrics: "You ask me: how many roads must a man walk down / before you can call him a man?" Responding to the question, the Polish Pontiff said, "Only one. There is only one road for man, and that is the road of Jesus Christ." (ANI)
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