Times are a changing for the Vatican

The Vatican's official newspaper has given a glowing review to Bob Dylan's new album, in the latest attempt to broaden its appeal beyond the rarefied confines of the Holy See.

The newspaper, which counts cardinals and clerics among its readers, devoted two articles to the album, which was released earlier this month.  

L’Osservatore Romano said that listening to the tracks on Tempest was like “biting into a cake made from the finest pastry”. The newspaper, which counts cardinals and clerics among its readers, devoted two articles to the album, which was released earlier this month.

Dylan’s voice remains “unmistakable”, despite the fact that his career spans nearly half a century and he turned 71 in May.

The paper’s reviewer reserved particular praise for a track about the sinking of the Titanic, called “Sad, sad story”.

“The Titanic went down, (but) Bob Dylan absolutely has not,” the review said.

Once a dry-as-dust paper of record, L’Osservatore Romano has ventured into popular culture in the last few years under a new editor, commenting on everything from The Beatles and The Blues Brothers to the blockbuster film Avatar and the Harry Potter books and films.

In 2010 the newspaper declared that Homer Simpson was a true Catholic and that the long-running cartoon series explored issues such as family, community and religion in a way that few other popular television programmes could match.
The newspaper acknowledged that Homer snores through the sermons of the Reverend Lovejoy and inflicts “never-ending humiliation” on his evangelical neighbour, Ned Flanders.
But in an article headlined “Homer and Bart are Catholics”, it said: “The Simpsons are among the few TV programmes for children in which Christian faith, religion, and questions about God are recurrent themes.”
Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman to a Jewish family, but in later life dabbled with Christianity.
He has since said that he subscribes to no individual religion but finds spiritual inspiration through his music.
He told Newsweek in 1997: “Here’s the thing with me and the religious thing. This is the flat-out truth: I find the religiosity and philosophy in the music. I don’t find it anywhere else. I don’t adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that.”