Bob Dylan meets Pope Leo at the Vatican in a black hoodie and gives him his own autobiography

Pope Leo XIV, a fellow American Midwesterner and self-confessed Dylan fan, received the 85-year-old Nobel laureate at the Apostolic Palace in Rome during a break in Dylan's 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' Italian tour. Leo presented Dylan with a rosary; Dylan handed the pontiff a copy of his own autobiography, 'Chronicles: Volume One.' The brief meeting included greetings and 'lighthearted exchanges' but no music.

Leo had already quoted Dylan's obscure 1963 anti-nuclear protest song 'Go Away You Bomb' in a July book warning against global rearmament.

Dylan's hooded, gloved, monk-like appearance prompted social media users to compare him to a Star Wars character and an Assassin's Creed protagonist.

The Vatican formally received Dylan under his birth name, 'Mr Robert Allen Zimmerman'; he performs in Rome on Thursday night.