Pope Leo XIV meets Bob Dylan at Vatican during Italy tour

Pope Leo XIV hosted American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace during Dylan's tour stop in Rome, the BBC reported. The meeting was brief and involved an exchange of gifts: the pope gave Dylan a rosary, while Dylan presented the pope with a copy of his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, according to PBS NewsHour.

Dylan, dressed in black with a hoodie, gloves, and umbrella, contrasted with the pope's all-white vestments during the encounter. Two Vatican officials accompanied Dylan, including the Rev. Antonio Spadaro and Andrea Monda, editor of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, PBS NewsHour noted.

Pope Leo XIV has previously referenced Dylan's work, quoting lyrics from Dylan's unreleased 1963 anti-nuclear song "Go Away You Bomb" in the preface to his book Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift, which warns against nuclear rearmament, as reported by the BBC and PBS NewsHour.

This was not Dylan's first meeting with a pope; he performed for Pope John Paul II in 1997 at a religious congress in Bologna, Italy, according to PBS NewsHour. Dylan's familiarity with Christian themes includes his song "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine," inspired by St. Augustine of Hippo, who also influences Pope Leo's spirituality.

Dylan's visit to the Vatican occurred ahead of his scheduled concert at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, part of his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, the BBC reported.