Posted on 03/07/2007 6:57:04 PM PST by blam
Pope tried to stop concert by Bob Dylan
By Malcolm Moore
Last Updated: 1:57am GMT 08/03/2007
The Pope tried to stop Bob Dylan playing for the late John Paul II because he feared the musician was a "prophet" whose beliefs were at odds with the Roman Catholic Church.
Bob Dylan performs for Pope John Paul II in Bologna in 1997
In a new book of memoirs about his predecessor, Pope Benedict recalls the events of the World Eucharist Congress at Bologna in 1997, a gathering of 300,000 young Catholic pilgrims who were to be exposed to the singer's iconoclastic songs and their "completely different" message.
Pope Benedict wrote: "The Pope appeared tired, exhausted. At that very moment the stars arrived, Bob Dylan and others whose names I do not remember.
''They had a completely different message from the one which the Pope had.
"There was reason to be sceptical - I was, and in some ways I still am - over whether it was really right to allow this type of 'prophet' to appear."
Pope Benedict is known to have a strong dislike of popular music.
Last year, he cancelled the Vatican's Christmas fundraising concert and banned guitars from Mass.
Six years ago he labelled rock and pop music "anti-Christian".
At the event in Bologna, Dylan performed four songs, including Knockin' on Heaven's Door, A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall and Blowin' in the Wind.
A visibly frail John Paul gave a long sermon based on Blowin' in the Wind.
He told the young Catholics: "On the road of music this evening, Jesus met you. A representative of yours said on your behalf that the answer is blowing in the wind.
"Yes, it is true. On the wind there is the voice and breath of the Holy Spirit."
He added: "You asked me: how many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man? I answer you: just one. One only. It is the road of a man. And this is Jesus Christ, who said 'I am the way'."
After his performance Dylan went to greet John Paul on the podium to roars from the crowd. The conference proved a great success and John Paul's popularity with young people rocketed.
Dylan became a born-again Christian in 1979 and released two albums of religious songs.
Pope Benedict's new book, John Paul II, my loved predecessor, is published by Edizione San Paulo and will be sold with Famiglia Cristiana, the Catholic newspaper, next week.
ROFLMAO! Now that was some good humor to end the day with.
Something is likely out of context here.
Religion's a wacky thing. When ya start to believing, it goes and gives you another reason not to.....at least the Jews like their liquor.
"Religion's a wacky thing. When ya start to believing, it goes and gives you another reason not to.....at least the Jews like their liquor."
You have to admit that a lot of the messages in modern music are very hedonistic in nature - i.e, be free of all constraints, do whatever you want, sex in the answer, screw da man etc.
It's not a long shot to call this anti-Christian.
He didn't realize that Bob Dylan just MAKES profits.
"it could be a mullah, or it could be a pope.
But you gotta ....."
Some religious folks take "non-religious" to mean "anti-religious".
My "Whopper with cheese" is not a religious burger. It's pure self-indulgence, no Christian message, no faith whatsoever about it.
That goes for most things, like music for instance. There is no need to categorically condemn these things.
Along with the flying of kites.
"Along with the flying of kites."
Kites, like burgers, do not contain ideological messages.
A more apt comparison would be literature.
You just gotta hand it to JPII.
Time to ping the list...
There is no anti-religious music. Only some anti-religious lyrics.
My nominee for post of the week!
What a strange article, lol.
Thanks for your kind words. If I had the time, I know there's something we could do with a chorus from "Man Gave Names to all the Animals".
Thanks for the ping, Scott. This Pope had a great face, it was kind and gentle.
Here we go again...
See this article: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article1485054.ece
From that article:
He admits that John Paul did get across a spiritual message that was otherwise largely “ignored by the entertainment industry”.
Pope Benedict has said that rock music is the work of Satan and last year he cancelled the fundraising Christmas pop concert at the Vatican, which under John Paul II had run for 13 years. He may have been wary of a repeat of the 2003 concert, when Lauryn Hill called on Church leaders to “repent” over sexual abuse by clergy, or 2005, when Daniela Mercury, the Brazilian singer, was dropped from the show in case she promoted the use of condoms to prevent Aids.
Pope Benedict is known to favour Mozart and Bach, and was always unlikely to enjoy chatting – as Pope John Paul II did – with singers. He opposes the use of guitars during Mass, telling priests that “the liturgy is not a theatrical text, and the altar is not a stage . . . It is important not to become merely actors in a spectacle.”
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