Vatican forgives The Beatles

Tue 13th Apr, 2010 in International News

Nearly half a century after first drawing the ire of the Catholic Church, apparently The Beatles have finally done enough to be absolved of their crimes against Catholicism.

The official newspaper of the Catholic Church L’Osservatore Romano has acknowledged the Fab Four’s place as “the longest-lasting, most consistent and representative phenomenon in the history of pop music.”

This announcement comes as the Church scrambles to deflect attention from a damaging sex abuse scandal, while also marking the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ breakup.

“Swept up by their success, they lived dissolute and uninhibited lives,” said the newspaper, “but, listening to their songs, all of this seems distant and meaningless… what would pop music have been like without the Beatles?”

John Lennon famously angered the Church when, at the height of the Beatles’ fame in 1966, he commented that “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink… we’re more popular than Jesus now”.

While L’Osservatore does suggest that the Beatles may have included Satanic messages in their music, editor Giovanni Maria Vian praised the band and dismissed Lennon’s comments as “showing off, bragging by a young English working-class musician”.