Pope Leo meets the Godmother of Punk

Patti Smith at the Venice Film Festival 2024 Wiki Image by Harald Krichel

Source: Vatican Media, X

On Friday morning, July 31, Pope Leo received Patti Smith, the singer-songwriter, poet, and artist, widely recognized as the 'Godmother of Punk' for her pioneering fusion of rock and poetry that shaped the punk movement. Like the Pope she is originally from Chicago.

Fr Antionio Spadaro SJ, from the Dicastery for Culture and Education, commented on X: "When that door opened, something happened… a spark was lit-one that came with a few lighthearted moments, but also with a profound sense of emotion and of a shared mission in this challenging world.

"Two Americans. Two Chicagoans. Two remarkable figures whose voices speak hope to a divided world: the "priestess of rock," as #PattiSmith is often called, and the Holy Father, #PopeLeoXIV.

"It was a long audience that felt more like a conversation between two people discovering they were old friends, sharing memories woven from words and music, dreams, visions, and hopes-both from yesterday and for today."

Earlier this year, on May 8, marking the first anniversary of Pope Leo XIV's election to the papacy, Smith inaugurated the Holy See's Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. She performed a sound prayer created in collaboration with the Soundwalk Collective, a key artistic partner in the exhibition project promoted by the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

In an interview with Vatican News last April, just days after Pope Francis' death, Smith shared her personal memories of Pope Francis, whom she had first met at the General Audience on April 10, 2013, and for whom she performed a year later. (see: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/26021 )

"We have to take the words he cherished - love, humility, compassion - and believe them with our hearts. And, as some of our great Masters taught, we must try to imitate Christ. To imitate Francis is to be that much closer to God," she said.

Watch a brief film of the encounter on Vatican Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=atLJJ4KFpVA