{"id":2072984,"date":"2026-08-01T22:27:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T19:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2072984"},"modified":"2026-08-01T22:27:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T19:27:56","slug":"patti-smith-reflects-on-meeting-pope-leo-xiv-a-moment-that-will-forever-produce-a-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2072984","title":{"rendered":"Patti Smith Reflects On Meeting Pope Leo XIV: \u2018A Moment That Will Forever Produce a Smile\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/patti-smith-pope-2026-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\tRock legend Patti Smith was giddy and almost at a loss for words when she met Friday (July 31) with Pope Leo XIV.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tPope Leo XIV & Bad Bunny Held a Private Meeting in\u00a0Madrid\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\t\u201cHi,\u201d she said softly as she sat down across from Leo at his desk in the Apostolic Palace.<\/p>\n

\n\tPost-meeting, on Instagram, she had a bit more to say: \u201cThis is a moment that shall forever produce a smile,\u201d she wrote of the encounter.<\/p>\n

\n\tWearing a crucifix necklace and hair in her trademark braids, Smith has become an increasingly visible presence at the Vatican thanks to her friendship with the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, undersecretary in the Vatican\u2019s culture ministry.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe has said that while she is not Catholic, she was drawn in particular to Pope Francis and his \u201cgentle, open, and steadfast sense of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe also had a thing for Pope John Paul I: Her 1979 tune \u201cWave\u201d is about a make-believe conversation with the pope who had just died after a 33-day papacy. It begins \u201cHi. Hi,\u201d uttered in the same breathy voice Smith used with Leo on Friday.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe pope clearly was familiar with the tune. \u201cThat was marvelous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier this year, Smith performed during the inauguration of the Holy See\u2019s Pavilion at the Venice Biennale contemporary art fair. The occasion, May 8, was the anniversary of Leo\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpadaro, who joined Smith at Friday\u2019s audience, said the encounter between the two Chicago natives was around 40 minutes long. In a text message, he said it \u201cfelt more like a conversation between two people discovering they were old friends, sharing memories woven from words and music, dreams, visions, and hopes \u2014 both from yesterday and for today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe said at the end, Smith said \u201cBye. Bye.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSmith met Francis in 2013 and sang for him in 2014. When he died, on April 21, 2025, she wrote a poem on social media, comparing Francis to a dandelion, \u201chumble yet strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNature and poetry and the suffering shall miss their champion,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was Leo\u2019s second encounter with a music legend this week. On Wednesday, Leo attended a concert in his honor by tenor Andrea Bocelli.<\/p>\n

\"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/patti-smith-pope-leo-xiv-meet-photo-1236307650\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/patti-smith-pope-2026-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Rock legend Patti Smith was giddy and almost at a loss for words when she met Friday (July 31) with Pope Leo XIV. Related Pope Leo XIV & Bad Bunny Held a Private Meeting in\u00a0Madrid Lil Uzi Vert Drops Surprise Birthday EP After Lollapalooza Cancellation Olivia Rodrigo and Yungblud […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2072984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2072984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2072984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2072984\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2072984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2072984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2072984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}