Pope Leo XIV and Bob Dylan met for a private audience at the Apostolic Palace on Wednesday, November 4. The 85-year-old Nobel laureate, currently in Rome for his Rough and Rowdy Ways
tour, spent the encounter exchanging personal gifts with the Pope.
A Private Exchange at the Palace
Photographs from the event capture Dylan—born Robert Allen Zimmerman—clad in a black hoodie, removing a glove to sign a book for the Pope. The Pope presented the singer-songwriter with a rosary; in return, Dylan handed over a copy of his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One. The meeting between the pair, who both hail from the US Midwest, was brief.
The meeting took place ahead of Dylan’s scheduled performance on Thursday at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome. The singer’s current tour, which includes stops in Milan and Bologna, is notable for its strict prohibition on smartphone recording.
Theological Echoes in Cold War Lyrics
Vatican interest in Dylan’s work has centered on themes of peace. A previously unreleased protest song, written in 1963 at the height of the Cold War, features the lines: I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned, an’ man-handled.
The typewritten lyrics remained unpublished until their 2013 discovery.
Pope Leo has previously referenced Dylan in his own work, quoting the song in the preface to a book titled Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift.
Dylan Converted to Evangelical Christianity After Being Raised Jewish
This is Dylan’s second meeting with a Pope. Though raised Jewish, Dylan converted to evangelical Christianity in 1978.
In 1997, Dylan was invited to perform at the 23rd National Eucharistic Congress in Bologna, where he performed three songs including Knockin' on Heaven's Door
before removing his cowboy hat to shake the hand of Pope John Paul II. At that event, the Pope quoted Blowin' in the Wind
and stated, Only one. There is only one road for man, and that is the road of Jesus Christ.