Bono and Pope John Paul II

In 1999 U2 frontman Bono met Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) to discuss the Jubilee 2000 project, which had the aim of reducing the world’s poorest countries’ international debt.

In 2005, the ‘Elevation’ hitmaker recalled how their encounter went, during an interview with The Sunday Times.

Bono said: “He seemed to be starring at me. I wondered was it the fact I was wearing my blue fly-shades? So I took them off in case I was causing some offence. When I was introduced to him he was still starring at them. He kept looking at them in my hand so I offered them to him as a gift in return for the rosary he’d just given. Not only did he put them on, he smiled the wickedest grin you could ever imagine. He was a comedian. His sense of humor was completely intact.”