Vatican Visit: Bob Dylan Gifts Pope Leo XIV a Rosary
The Nobel laureate met privately with the pontiff in Rome, presenting a copy of his autobiography and receiving a rosary in return.
By William Turner ·
Pope Leo XIV presented Bob Dylan with a rosary on Wednesday as the musician visited the Vatican during a break in his Italian concert tour. The meeting lasted only a few minutes. Dylan handed the pope a copy of his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One.
The interaction occurred between two scheduled performances. Dylan played in Milan on Monday. He is set to perform in Rome on Thursday. The Vatican confirmed the brief encounter took place in private.
Two officials accompanied the singer to the meeting. Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican culture ministry official, was present. Andrea Monda, editor of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, also attended. Spadaro stated that Dylan had requested the meeting. He noted that Leo, formerly known as Robert Prevost, grew up in Chicago and was familiar with Dylan's music.
Leo cited Dylan's unpublished 1963 protest song, Go Away You Bomb, in his 2026 book Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift. The pope used the lyrics to argue against nuclear rearmament. The quoted line addresses a hypothetical atomic bomb, stating, I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned, an' man-handled.
Spadaro highlighted the literary connection between the two men. Dylan wrote I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine for his 1967 album John Wesley Harding. Saint Augustine is the inspiration for Leo's spirituality and his religious order. Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016.
Dylan wore a black hoodie with the hood up over his head during the visit. He also wore a loose tie. This was not his first papal appearance. He performed for Pope John Paul II in 1997 at a religious congress in Bologna, Italy.
The singer has discussed his faith in recent interviews. In a 2022 conversation with The Wall Street Journal, he described himself as a religious person who prays and reads scripture. He previously embraced born-again Christianity in 1979. At his last concert before the Vatican visit, Dylan sang Tryin' to Get to Heaven.
