Dylan Plays For Pope

1997

Bob Dylan plays "Knocking On Heaven's Door" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" for Pope John Paul II and an audience of 300,000 at the World Eucharist Congress in Bologna, Italy. For the 77-year-old Pope, it's a chance to connect with young people, and the pontiff does so by invoking Dylan's song "Blowin' In The Wind" during his sermon. Dylan's invite is not without controversy, as the future Pope Benedict fears the "rock prophet" and his music are at odds with the Roman Catholic faith.

Dylan joins a number of Italian pop musicians at the concert mass but is the main attraction for fans eager to watch him perform. He's also the object of ire for Cardinal Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, who will be better known as Pope Benedict XVI when he takes up the post in 2005. Although Dylan became a born-again Christian in 1979, even releasing two albums of religious music, Benedict brands his work - along with that of other rock and pop musicians - "anti-Christian," and labels him a false prophet. Benedict later recalls his misgivings about the event: "They had a completely different message from the one which the Pope had... There was reason to be skeptical - I was, and in some ways I still am - over whether it was really right to allow this type of 'prophet' to appear." He does his best to stop the concert but the current pontiff obviously sees the value in Dylan's repertoire. "On the road of music this evening, Jesus met you. A representative of yours has just said on your behalf that the answer to the questions of your life is 'blowing in the wind,'" the frail Pope John Paul II tells the crowd. "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!'" The Dylan-infused sermon is a success and boosts the Pope's popularity with young Catholics, but it does nothing for Pope Benedict. During his nearly 8-year tenure, he'll ban guitars from Mass and cancel the Vatican's traditional Christmas concert that typically invited a range of pop stars.