Is this photo of Bob Dylan meeting Pope Leo XIV real?

In early November, an image circulated online purportedly showing Pope Leo XIV meeting with American folk singer Bob Dylan, 85, who was dressed in a black hoodie. "What's the deal with the hoodie? Why is he wearing it all the time?" one Reddit user commented on a post. Other people wanted to know if the image was created using generative AI. The image was authentic. The Vatican's official social media pages posted the image (archived) of the two men, who both hail from the American Midwest. "Pope Leo XIV met with American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in a private audience on Wednesday, November 4," the photo's caption read. Writer Salvatore Cernuzio contributed a story (archived) to the Vatican News about the meeting that read, in part: The meeting between Pope Leo and Dylan—who wore a black hooded sweatshirt—was brief, consisting of greetings and a few lighthearted exchanges. The Holy Father presented the singer with a rosary, while Dylan reciprocated with a book: Chronicles: Volume One, his autobiography, which has been published in the United States and other countries around the world. It wasn't the first time Dylan made a public appearance in a black hoodie, nor was it his first time meeting a pope (he also met Pope John Paul II in 1997). Though the singer was born and raised Jewish, he converted to Christianity in the 1970s. Antonio Spadaro, an Italian priest who arranges meetings with public figures for the pope, formerly known as Robert Prevost, wrote in an Instagram post: "Born in Chicago in 1955, Prevost grew up with the American music of the era" (translation via a native speaker). For further reading about Leo, we've previously verified an image showing him wearing Nike sneakers with his vestments.