Iconic singer/songwriter Bob Dylan met our beloved Pope Leo XIV, our first American-born Pope at the Vatican on Wednesday.
Now if you’re shaking your head thinking:
“Who in the world is Bob Dylan??”
…You might be the only one – and I am fairly positive your parents have an album stashed away somewhere – Bishop Robert Barron is a big fan and actually loves to cover his songs!
The 85-year old Nobel laureate in literature, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, but known the world over as Bob Dylan, took the music industry by storm in the 1960s and 70s’...
He came to the Vatican decked out in his signature black, complete with a hooded sweatshirt in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.
The legendary American singer-songwriter and poet met briefly with the Holy Father on the sidelines of his ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’ tour stop at Rome's Palazzo dello Sport.
Pope Leo presented the legendary folk singer with a rosary, while Dylan gifted Pope Leo his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One.
‘I Hate You Cause Yer Man-Made...’
While this Fall November day brought the two together in person, their connection was forged earlier this year.
In the preface to a book published by the Vatican Publishing House (LEV) titled Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift, Pope Leo XIV used words from one of Dylan's poetic compositions to issue a stern warning against global rearmament and the nightmare of nuclear weapons:
“I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned, an’ man-handled.”
The verses come from the protest song, "Go Away You Bomb,” written by Dylan in 1963 at the height of Cold War tensions. The piece remains a unique part of Dylan's catalog — it was never officially recorded or released on any music album, and its original manuscript remained unpublished until its discovery in 2013.
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Again)
This isn’t the first time Dylan has met the Vicar of Christ. Back in 1997, Pope John Paul II famously engaged with the poet, playing in front of a huge Catholic crowd with 300,000 young people gathered for the Eucharistic Congress in Bologna Italy.
The Pope took the opportunity to touch upon some of the religious undertones of Dylan’s music. Considering the lyrics of Blowin’ in the Wind that begins with: How many roads must a man walk down, before he knows he’s a man, the Polish Pope told the audience:
“A representative of yours has just said on your behalf that the answer to the questions of your life ‘is blowing in the wind.’ It is true! But not in the wind which blows everything away in empty whirls, but the wind which is the breath and voice of the Spirit, a voice that calls and says: ‘Come!’”
Pope John Paul II continued:
“You asked me: How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man? I answer you: One! There is only one road for man, and it is Christ, who said: ‘I am the Way.’ He is the road of truth, the way of life.”
While Dylan grew up Jewish in Minnesota, and had an evangelical experience during the 1970s, his own faith life remains a mystery to many. However the songs he has written and his music is often called ‘confessional’ as he typically sings about God and spiritual warfare.
During an interview in 2002 with The Wall Street Journal, the poet and folk singer stated clearly:
“I’m a religious person.”
He also shared his habits of reading the Bible daily, praying, and he also enjoys lighting candles and praying for the intercession of the saints when visiting churches.
Fast forward nearly three decades later, and Dylan’s words continue to resonate through the halls of the Vatican — this time in a quiet Apostolic Palace room with an American-born Pope, sealed with a Rosary, an autobiography, and a shared concern for global peace.
Check out this video of Bishop Barron covering one of Dylan's classics: