Bob Dylan has visited Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. The 85-year-old singer-songwriter was received at the Apostolic Palace, the Pope's official residence, while on tour in Italy.
"The meeting between Pope Leo and Dylan – who wore a black hooded sweatshirt – was brief, consisting of greetings and a few lighthearted exchanges," reports Vatican News. "The Holy Father presented the singer with a rosary, while Dylan reciprocated with a book: Chronicles: Volume One, his autobiography."
The pope, a fan of the Italian singer Laura Pausini, quoted lyrics from Dylan's unreleased 1963 protest song Go Away You Bomb in the preface to Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift, a book by the Italian journalist Alessandro Banfi published earlier this year.
Remarkably, this is the second time one of Dylan's lyrics has been referenced by a pope. In 1997, Pope John Paul II quoted some lines from the classic Blowin' In The Wind during an address to 300,000 young people at the 23rd National Eucharistic Congress in Bologna, shortly before Dylan took to the stage to play a short set.
"You say the answer is blowing in the wind, my friend," the pope told the crowd. "So it is: but it is not the wind that blows things away; it is the breath and life of the Holy Spirit, the voice that calls and says, 'Come!'
"You ask me how many roads a man must walk down before he becomes a man," he added. "I answer: There is only one road for man, and it is the road of Jesus Christ, who said, 'I am the Way and the Life.'"
Dylan performs at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome tomorrow (November 5) and arrives in the UK for a ten-date tour later in the month. Full dates below.
Bob Dylan: 2026 tour dates
Nov 05: Rome Palazzo dello Sport, Italy
Nov 07: Casalecchio di Reno Unipol Arena, Italy
Nov 09: Ljubljana Arena Stožice, Slovenia
Nov 11: Vienna Wiener Stadthalle, Austria
Nov 12: Vienna Wiener Stadthalle, Austria
Nov 15: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Nov 17: Freiburg Sick Arena, Germany
Nov 20: Stuttgart Porsche Arena, Germany
Nov 22: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany
Nov 25: Bournemouth BIC Windsor Hall, UK
Nov 26: Birmingham BP Pulse Live, UK
Nov 27: Sheffield Utilita Arena, UK
Nov 30: Blackpool Opera House, UK
Dec 01: Blackpool Opera House, UK
Dec 03: London Royal Festival Hall, UK
Dec 04: London Royal Festival Hall, UK
Dec 05: London Royal Festival Hall, UK
Dec 07: London Royal Festival Hall, UK
Dec 08: London Royal Festival Hall, UK
