Bob Dylan met with Pope Leo at the Vatican on Wednesday, keeping his hood up and gloves on during the private audience. The meeting took place at the Apostolic Palace.
Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican official involved in facilitating meetings between the Church and entertainment figures, shared details of the encounter on Instagram. He described it as an emotional event with a sense of history.
The Vatican's newspaper identified the visitor as Robert Allen Zimmerman, Dylan's birth name. Pope Leo, who is originally from Chicago, is known to be a fan of the musician and previously quoted Dylan's 1963 song "Go Away You Bomb" in a book preface.
This meeting occurred weeks after Pope Leo underwent surgery on October 13 to remove a lesion from his chest. A Vatican spokesperson confirmed that tests following the surgery revealed cancerous cells, diagnosing the Pontiff with adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer. The Pope had previously waved to well-wishers upon entering Gemelli hospital for the procedure, which was reported to be successful with no complications.
Dylan, whose music career spans over six decades, was dressed in a black coat, gloves, and a hooded sweatshirt, carrying a black umbrella, while Pope Leo wore his customary white cassock.