VATICAN CITY | Pope Leo XIV met Nobel Prize-winning American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in a private audience at the Vatican on Wednesday, November 4, during the musician’s Italian concert tour, in an encounter underscored by their shared interest in music, spirituality and the message of peace.
The brief meeting took place at the Apostolic Palace, where the pope presented Dylan with a rosary while the musician gave Leo a signed copy of his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, according to Vatican News and the Associated Press. Photographs released by Vatican Media showed the two exchanging greetings and speaking during the visit.
The encounter followed the pope’s reference to Dylan’s 1963 anti-nuclear protest composition, “Go Away You Bomb,” in the preface to Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift, a book published by the Vatican Publishing House in July 2026. Leo cited lines from the unpublished work while warning against global rearmament and the threat of nuclear weapons.
Written at the height of the Cold War, “Go Away You Bomb” was never officially recorded or released as a song. Its manuscript remained unpublished until it was discovered in 2013, according to Vatican News. Dylan’s words provided a cultural reference for the pope’s appeal against the dangers of nuclear conflict.
Dylan, 85, whose birth name is Robert Allen Zimmerman, was in Rome for a November 5 performance at the Palazzo dello Sport as part of the European leg of his “Rough and Rowdy Ways” tour, which also includes stops in Milan and Bologna.
The meeting was arranged with the assistance of the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Jesuit priest and Vatican official involved in cultural relations. Spadaro said Dylan had wanted to meet the pope. Vatican newspaper editor Andrea Monda also accompanied the musician, the Associated Press reported.
The encounter was not Dylan’s first with a pope. In 1997, he performed before Pope John Paul II and an estimated 300,000 young people during the 23rd National Eucharistic Congress in Bologna. His performance included “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” John Paul II later referred to the lyrics of “Blowin’ in the Wind” in his address to the gathering.
Dylan received the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature for creating new poetic expressions within the American song tradition. He became one of the most influential figures in modern popular music through songs that addressed social change, war, civil rights and personal reflection.
His meeting with Leo brought together two prominent Americans whose lives and work have been shaped, in different ways, by questions of faith, conscience and peace.
Paraluman P. Funtanilla
Paraluman P. Funtanilla is Tutubi News Magazine's Marketing Specialist and is a Contributing Editor. She finished her degree in Communication Arts in De La Salle Lipa. She has worked as a Digital Marketer for start-up businesses and small business spaces for the past two years. She has earned certificates from Coursera on Brand Management: Aligning Business Brand and Behavior and Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content. She also worked with Asia Express Romania TV Show.
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