The Vatican Forgives John Lennon

Sweet absolution! John Lennon didn't confess any sins or have to do any penance, but the Vatican has forgiven him anyway.

The Catholic Church was quite put off when Lennon said in a 1966 interview that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus."

"Christianity will go," Lennon told London's Evening Standard newspaper at the time. "It will vanish and shrink... Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

The remark upset Catholics and conservative religious groups in the U.S., which prompted public burnings of Beatles albums. Several radio stations also banned The Beatles' music.

But L'Osservatore Romano, the Holy See's semi-official newspaper, forgave Lennon for his comments in an issue that celebrated the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' 1968 self-titled record, also known as The White Album. The newspaper said Lennon was just "bragging" when he made the remark.

"It is a phrase that provoked deep indignation at the time, but which sounds today like a quip from a young man from the English working class overtaken by unexpected success," the newspaper wrote.

The newspaper also called The White Album a "magical musical anthology."

"Today, recordings seem above all to be standardized and stereotyped — falling well short of the creativity of The Beatles."