Bob Dylan is received by Pope Leo XIV in a private audience at the Vatican
The meeting at the Apostolic Palace was recorded by the Vatican newspaper; the pontiff, a fan of the musician, once quoted an anti-nuclear Dylan song in a book preface.
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
Pope Leo XIV received American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan for a private audience at the Vatican on Wednesday (Nov. 4), g1 reported, citing the Reuters news agency. Photos shared by the Vatican newspaper on social media show the two meeting in the pontiff's office in the Apostolic Palace.
According to the report, the 71-year-old pope wore his traditional white cassock, while Dylan wore a coat, gloves and a hooded sweatshirt, all black. In reporting the visit, the Vatican newspaper noted that Leo XIV had received Mr. Robert Allen Zimmerman, the musician's birth name. The pope is also named Robert: his civil name is Robert Francis Prevost.
Jesuit priest Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican official known for building bridges between the Church and figures in the entertainment industry, said on Instagram that he helped organize the meeting. He said he felt the thrill of taking part in a moment with a true sense of history and the impression that, with every step through the palace, anything could happen.
Leo XIV is an avowed fan of the artist. The pontiff quoted, in the preface of a book released in July, "Go Away You Bomb," a protest song against nuclear weapons written by Dylan in 1963.
Dylan has a career spanning more than six decades, and the report marked the occasion with a nod to one of his classics: after spending all that time knocking on heaven's door, the musician saw the Vatican's doors open for him.