Vatican forgives John Lennon for Jesus quip

[ABlairican Pie]

Vatican forgives John Lennon for Jesus quip


updated 11:17 a.m. PT, Sat., Nov. 22, 2008

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's newspaper has finally forgiven John Lennon for declaring that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, calling the remark a "boast" by a young man grappling with sudden fame.

The comment by Lennon to a London newspaper in 1966 infuriated Christians, particularly in the United States, some of whom burned Beatles' albums in huge pyres.

But time apparently heals all wounds.


"The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a 'boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll," Vatican daily Osservatore Romano said.

The article, marking the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' "The White Album," went on to praise the pop band.

"The fact remains that 38 years after breaking up, the songs of the Lennon-McCartney brand have shown an extraordinary resistance to the passage of time, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians," it said.

Lennon was murdered in New York in 1980.


Copyright 2008 Reuters.

[James]

That's just sad. ohno:

[Zebra 3]

Yet they still won't forgive him for Yoko.

[catlover79]

Yet they still won't forgive him for Yoko.
:rofl: I think the world at large hasn't forgiven him for that. No offense!

[Dr. Thong]

The "bigger than Jesus" remark was taken out of context -- everyone's pretty much moved on from that by now. I mean, it was over 40 years ago.

Yoko, on the other hand, was a conscious decision by John, and we're still trying to figure out...why??:confused: :confused: :eek:

[ABlairican Pie]

That's just sad. ohno:That it took over 40 years to forgive him of something that was taken completely out of context?

I believe that it's only been in the past several years that the Vatican officially pardoned Galileo for his findings in astronomy that conflicted with church teachings. In 1633, he was condemned and threatened with execution for promoting the premise by Copernicus that the earth revolved around the sun. This conflicted with church teachings that the Bible clearly states in the Book of Joshua, the Psalms, and 1 Chronicles that not only did the sun stand still in the sky when commanded, but that the earth was fixed and immovable. The official full pardon did not come until 1992.

The Vatican doesn't seem to take notice of the comments Lennon made right after the ensuing controversy, that he did not mean to make it seem that he thought the Beatles were "better" than Jesus, nor appear as if he were being anti-religious or "anti-Jesus". He was making a comment at the time in a British magazine in 1966 that he thought the impact of Christianity in his own country was dwindling. "We're (The Beatles) are more popular than Jesus now." He felt that his own band was in fact more popular than Christianity in England, and he was right. It was not a "boast", but a strange irony, it seemed to him. He explained that he said the Beatles because it was easy for him to talk about his own band, he could have said something else, he said, like movies or whatever as being bigger, but the Beatles was the first thing that popped into his mind. He said he thought Jesus was alright, but said that his views were influenced by a popular book at the time called 'The Passover Plot' which said that the disciples twisted the Gospel message for their own ends.

In a press conference that summer, Lennon said, "I was not saying whatever they're saying I was saying. I'm sorry I said it really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I apologise if that will make you happy. I still do not know quite what I've done. I've tried to tell you what I did do, but if you want me to apologise, if that will make you happy, then OK, I'm sorry.”

Lennon later wrote after the Beatles' breakup, "I always remember to thank Jesus for the end of my touring days; if I hadn't said that The Beatles were 'bigger than Jesus' and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well, Lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas! God bless America. Thank you, Jesus."


Interesting how the Vatican missed the apology. Why would the Vatican officially "forgive" Lennon? :confused: He wasn't Catholic. He didn't even do anything wrong.

[catlover79]

^ I'm a little baffled about that myself. Oh well.

[Pus$y Galore]

I'm really sure John is resting more peacefully knowng that. :rolleyes:

Honestly - people do know John apologized for that misunderstanding immediately. That's so nice of the church to finally get around to it. Ridiculous!

Sounds to me like this came out of the blue because the church is hoping to please the baby boomer generation a bit and this is the best they can come up with. I'm sure the Pope is sitting around listening to the White Album...;)

[Dr. Thong]

Lennon did apologize for it, but under duress. The controversy reached a fever pitch in the US, with people gathering to destroy and burn their Beatle LPs and merchandise.

Lennon later regretted apologizing because he felt he compromised himself by doing so. He never put down Jesus, but rather was commenting on how the group was so popular they had more influence over their fans than religion or the bible.

[Yooch]

[quote=ABlairican Pie]Vatican forgives John Lennon for Jesus quip


updated 11:17 a.m. PT, Sat., Nov. 22, 2008

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's newspaper has finally forgiven John Lennon for declaring that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, calling the remark a "boast" by a young man grappling with sudden fame.
***
Seems a little odd at this point, but appreciated. I think most people, when Lennon made the quote, after getting over any shock about what he said, quickly came to realize the context in which he said it. I think it's a non-issue. We should all be forgiving towards one another anyway.

[AKA]

Nice of the Vatican to forgive a man who's been dead 28 years for something he said 42 years ago that was taken out of context anyway.

"If I would have said 'television is more popular than Jesus,' I might have got away with it."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ6NL3iNNMs

[mrs.gingerhinkley]

I appreciated the comment, gave me faith in the music I listen too, lol. ;-)

[TJL]

Now that's procrastination.

;)

[Pus$y Galore]

Now that's procrastination.

;)


We can be grateful that they're not in charge of solving the global financial crisis too. ;)