Bob Dylan Meets Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican

Pope Leo XIV hosted American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on Wednesday, during the Rome stop of Dylan’s Italian tour. The brief meeting brought together two people from the US Midwest. Dylan, 85, wore mostly black, including a hood, gloves and an umbrella, while the Chicago-born pope wore white vestments. According to Vatican News, Leo gave Dylan a rosary, and Dylan presented the pope with a copy of his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One. The visit took place before Dylan’s scheduled Thursday performance at Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport. The article also highlights a connection between the two through Dylan’s music: Leo previously quoted a line from Dylan’s unreleased anti-nuclear song “Go Away You Bomb” in the preface to his book Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift, which warns against rearmament. Written in 1963 during the Cold War, the song was never recorded. Its typewritten lyrics remained unpublished until they were discovered and offered at auction in 2013, according to the New York Times. The meeting was the second time Dylan had met a pope. In 1997, he performed before Pope John Paul II and about 300,000 young people at the 23rd National Eucharistic Congress in Bologna. Dylan played four songs, including “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” and reportedly greeted the pope onstage. John Paul II, in turn, quoted Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” in a sermon to the crowd.

Bob Dylan met Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, during a break in the singer’s Italian concert dates. The brief meeting included greetings and lighthearted conversation, and the two were photographed shaking hands and sitting together. Dylan, 85, gave the Pope a copy of his autobiography, *Chronicles: Volume One*, while Leo, 71, presented Dylan with a rosary. Vatican officials the Rev. Antonio Spadaro and Andrea Monda accompanied the singer. Spadaro said Dylan had wanted to speak with the Pope and described the encounter as emotionally significant. The article notes a connection between the two through Dylan’s music: Leo quoted a line from Dylan’s unpublished 1963 protest song “Go Away You Bomb” in his 2026 book *Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift*. The lyric was used in a warning about rearmament and nuclear weapons. Dylan’s Vatican visit took place before a scheduled performance at Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport as part of the European leg of his *Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour*. The story also places the meeting in the context of Dylan’s religious background and previous encounters with popes. He met Pope John Paul II in 1997 at a religious congress in Bologna. Born Robert Zimmerman to a Jewish family in Minnesota, Dylan became a born-again Christian in 1979. In a 2022 interview, he described himself as religious and spoke of reading scripture, praying, and believing in damnation, salvation, and predestination. The article’s central focus is the meeting and its personal, musical, and religious connections.

Bob Dylan met Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, while in Italy between concert dates. The Vatican described the private encounter as brief. Leo gave Dylan a rosary, and Dylan presented the pope with a copy of his autobiography, “Chronicles: Volume One.” The meeting brought together two Americans whose lives and work have intersected with religious themes. Vatican official Rev. Antonio Spadaro said Dylan had asked to speak with Leo. Spadaro also wrote that Leo, born Robert Prevost in Chicago in 1955, grew up familiar with Dylan’s music. Dylan, in turn, has written about St. Augustine of Hippo, whose thought inspired Leo’s spirituality and Augustinian religious order. One example is Dylan’s 1967 song “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine.” Leo had previously cited lines from Dylan’s unpublished 1963 protest song “Go Away You Bomb” in his 2026 book, “Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift,” while warning about rearmament and the use of nuclear weapons. The visit was not Dylan’s first meeting with a pope: he performed for Pope John Paul II and a large audience in Bologna in 1997. Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, was born Robert Zimmerman to a Jewish family in Minnesota and became a born-again Christian in 1979, a shift that alienated some fans. In a 2022 interview, he said he considered himself religious and read scripture, meditated, and prayed. His beliefs have been less publicly discussed in recent years. Dylan’s Vatican visit fell between a Monday concert in Milan and a scheduled Thursday performance in Rome. At his concert before meeting Leo, he sang “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven,” a song whose lyrics evoke a journey toward heaven.