Bob Dylan Visits Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican in a Private Meeting
Bob Dylan paid a visit to the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 4, where he met privately with Pope Leo XIV in a meeting that brought together two of the most recognizable American figures in music and religion.
The 85-year-old singer-songwriter was received at the Apostolic Palace during a break in his concert tour of Italy. According to Vatican News, the meeting was brief and included greetings and a few lighthearted exchanges.
A Rosary and a Memoir
The two men exchanged gifts during the visit. Pope Leo gave Dylan a rosary, and Dylan presented the pope with a signed copy of his 2004 autobiography, “Chronicles: Volume One.”
Photos released by the Vatican show the pair shaking hands and talking. The pope wore his traditional white attire, while Dylan dressed casually in a black hoodie.
The Vatican shared one of the photos on Instagram with a simple caption noting that the pope met with the American singer-songwriter in a private audience.
Who Arranged the Meeting
The meeting was arranged by the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican official, according to UPI, citing CNN. Spadaro also helped arrange the pope’s meeting with musician Patti Smith earlier this year.
After the visit, Spadaro wrote on social media that the encounter carried “a real sense of history.”
The meeting is part of a broader effort by the Vatican to connect the Catholic Church with popular culture. In addition to Dylan and Smith, Pope Leo has also met with Bad Bunny this year.
The Pope Has Quoted Dylan Before
Pope Leo is already familiar with Dylan’s work. In July, the Vatican published “Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift,” the first collection of the pope’s statements and reflections on peace since his election in May 2025.
In the book, Pope Leo quoted a line from “Go Away You Bomb,” an unpublished protest song Dylan wrote in 1963, at the height of Cold War tensions. In the verse, Dylan addresses the atomic bomb directly, condemning it as something made by humans.
Dylan wrote the song for Izzy Young of the Greenwich Village Folklore Center, who had asked musicians he knew to write songs about nuclear weapons. According to Young, Dylan delivered it the very next day.
Not Dylan’s First Papal Visit
This isn’t the first time Dylan has crossed paths with a pope. In 1997, he performed for Pope John Paul II at a Catholic event in Bologna, Italy, nearly three decades before this week’s visit.
Faith has long been part of Dylan’s life and work. He released a series of gospel albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and in more recent interviews, he has described himself as a religious person who reads Scripture and prays.
Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, rarely makes public appearances outside of his concerts, which made Wednesday’s visit all the more notable for fans.
What’s Next for Dylan
Dylan is in the middle of a European tour. He’s scheduled to perform Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, followed by shows in Milan and Bologna this weekend. He’s then set to travel to the U.K. for a 10-date tour later in November.
The visit came about three weeks after Pope Leo, the first American-born pope, returned home following surgery, according to UPI.
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