Bob Dylan Meets Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican During Italian Tour Break

Pope Leo XIV received singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, 85, at the Vatican on Wednesday during a break between tour dates in Italy. The Vatican said the meeting was brief, consisting of greetings and a few lighthearted exchanges. Leo gave Dylan a rosary, and Dylan gave the pope a copy of his autobiography, "Chronicles: Volume One." Dylan wore a black hooded sweatshirt, while the pope wore his traditional white vestments. Leo, 71, is the first U.S. pope and a Chicago native. Vatican News said he quoted a Dylan lyric in the preface to a book on disarmament published earlier this year. Dylan previously performed "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" for Pope John Paul II and about 300,000 young people at a 1997 event in Bologna. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2016.

The right-leaning Daily Wire and Breitbart both lead with the hoodie. The Daily Wire's headline and opening dwell on the outfit, down to the gloves, compare it to Sen. John Fetterman's style, and add Dylan's 1979 conversion and a 2022 Wall Street Journal quote about his faith. It also notes that Leo is still recovering from last month's surgery. Breitbart is plainer, relying on Vatican News, and adds Leo's anti-war positions and clash with President Trump over the Middle East war. The left-leaning NPR and The Atlantic focus on the encounter itself. NPR notes the "American pope" and the brevity, and The Atlantic calls the image strange and funny but says the pairing makes sense. Neither excerpt mentions politics or clothing details. Stereogum, an alternative outlet, differs by recounting Dylan's 1997 Bologna performance and a Vatican culture minister's account of a separate Patti Smith meeting with Leo.