Dylan exchanges autobiography for rosary with Pope Leo XIV

The Vatican confirmed that Bob Dylan met Pope Leo XIV during his Italy tour, with the encounter described as brief. Leo gave Dylan a rosary, and Dylan presented the pope with a copy of his autobiography, 'Chronicles: Volume One.'

In his 2026 book, 'Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift,' Pope Leo XIV quoted a line from an unpublished protest song by Dylan titled 'Go Away You Bomb,' written in 1963. The lyric, directed at a hypothetical atomic bomb, reads: 'I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned, an’ man-handled.'

Two Vatican officials were present during the meeting: Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a culture ministry official, and Andrea Monda, editor of the Vatican newspaper. Spadaro noted that Dylan had requested a private audience with the pope and that Dylan was well-versed in St. Augustine of Hippo, a key figure in Leo's spirituality.

Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, wore a black hoodie and a loose tie during the meeting. Vatican photographs showed him with the hood over his head. This was not Dylan's first meeting with a pope; he performed for Pope John Paul II in 1997 during a concert in Bologna, Italy.

Dylan, originally named Robert Zimmerman, was born to a Jewish family in Minnesota. He converted to Christianity in 1979, a shift that led to some fan backlash. In recent years, Dylan has been more reserved about his faith, stating in a 2022 Wall Street Journal interview that he is a 'religious person' who reads scriptures, meditates, and prays.

Dylan met with Pope Leo XIV between concert dates in Italy. He performed in Milan on Monday and will play in Rome on Thursday. His most recent concert before the meeting included a performance of his 1997 song 'Tryin’ to Get to Heaven,' which contains the lyric: 'I’ve been all around the world, boys/Now I’m trying to get to heaven before they close the door.'