Bob Dylan met Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Wednesday, with the pair exchanging a rosary and a copy of the folk rocker's autobiography. Dylan, 85, made a stop at the Pope's official residence, the Apostolic Palace, while visiting Rome during his tour.
Meeting at the Apostolic Palace
Dressed in a black hoodie, trousers and gloves, Dylan stood in contrast to the Chicago-born Pope, 71, in his white cassock and zucchetto. While Dylan's attire may have appeared unusual, it was in keeping with protocol when visiting the Pope. Men are required to wear a dark coloured suit and tie, or a conservative jacket and trousers. Only specific Catholic monarchs or the wives of Catholic heads of state are permitted to wear white instead of black.
The meeting between the two men was reportedly brief, according to Vatican News, and saw Dylan gift Leo a copy of his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, and the Pope present him with a rosary. It came ahead of Dylan's performance at the Palazzo dello Sport on Thursday.
Shared background and anti-nuclear stance
Both men hail from the US Midwest and have spoken passionately against nuclear warfare. Leo has previously quoted Dylan's unreleased anti-nuclear song in his 2026 book Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift. The book argued that true and lasting peace comes from active disarmament and non-violence rather than nuclear deterrence. The line "I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned, an' man-handled" from Dylan's 1963 hit Go Away You Bomb is quoted in the preface of the Pope's book.
Vatican official Rev. Antonio Spadaro, who is known for building bridges between the church and popular culture, arranged the meeting between the pair. Writing on social media afterwards, Spadaro wrote: "It was hard not to feel the emotion of being part of an encounter that had a real sense of history about it, with the feeling that, at every step through the Apostolic Palace, absolutely anything could happen!"
Second papal meeting for Dylan
Leo is the second pope Dylan has met. He was invited to perform for the 23rd National Eucharistic Congress in Bologna in 1997 in front of Pope John Paul II and around 300,000 young people.
