Bob Dylan Meets Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican

A brief meeting in Rome

November 4, 2026 · 6:40 p.m. Central

Bob Dylan met Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Wednesday, bringing the Nobel-winning songwriter and the first American pope together during Dylan’s concert tour of Italy.

The meeting at the Apostolic Palace was brief, Vatican News reported. Leo gave Dylan a rosary, and Dylan presented the pope with a copy of his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One.

The Associated Press reported that Vatican official Antonio Spadaro, who accompanied Dylan, said the two spoke privately for a few minutes. A detailed account of their conversation was not released.

A musical connection

Leo had previously cited Dylan’s 1963 anti-nuclear composition “Go Away You Bomb” in a 2026 book on peace and disarmament, Vatican News reported. The piece was never officially released on an album.

Dylan received the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature. Born Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota, he was in Italy between concerts; Vatican News said a Rome performance was scheduled for Thursday.

Vatican photographs showed Dylan wearing a black hooded sweatshirt during the visit, AP reported.

An earlier encounter with a pope

Wednesday’s meeting was not Dylan’s first papal encounter. In 1997, he performed at a religious gathering in Bologna attended by Pope John Paul II, according to Vatican News and AP.

The new visit was a short private audience. The Vatican described greetings and light exchanges; it did not suggest that the two gave a joint performance or announced a project.

Where the meeting took place

The star marks the approximate Vatican City area in Rome, not a particular room in the Apostolic Palace.

Key moments

1. 1997 — Dylan performs at a Bologna gathering attended by Pope John Paul II.
2. 2016 — Dylan receives the Nobel Prize in literature.
3. 2026 — Leo cites Dylan’s anti-nuclear composition in a book on peace.
4. November 4, 2026 — Dylan meets Leo at the Vatican.

Sources and visual credits

Vatican News: meeting and background · Associated Press: Vatican visit.

Visual: conceptual guitar, rosary and dome illustration, not a photograph of the meeting. Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.