Vatican Forgives Beatles, Ringo Says 'Don't Bother Me'

By Zach Dionne Posted Apr 13th 2010 01:15PM

Vatican Forgives Beatles, Ringo Says 'Don't Bother Me'
John Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, the Pope says it's all good, and Ringo doesn't care.

The UK's Telegraph reports that the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, has publicly absolved the Beatles for their sins. "In a move sanctioned by Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Church has offered the Fab Four its official seal of approval, forgiving them their various excesses and even lauding them as a 'precious jewel,'" according to the Telegraph.

Ringo's reply to the church's olive branch? "Didn't the Vatican say we were satanic or possibly satanic -- and they've still forgiven us? I think the Vatican, they've got more to talk about than the Beatles," the 70-year-old drummer told CNN.

"While recognizing that John, Paul, George and Ringo were no saints during their time in the Beatles, the Vatican assures followers they were by no means the worst behaved rock and rollers of their generation," the Telegraph reports. "In a front page article, L'Osservatore Romano offers a glowing assessment of band's achievements 40 tears after they split, heralding their 'beautiful melodies' and begging the question, 'What would pop music have been like without the Beatles?'"

The Vatican's article was remarkably positive, titled 'Seven Years That Shook Music.' "They may not have been the best example for the youth of the day, but they were by no means the worst. Their beautiful melodies changed music and continue to give pleasure," the piece reads.

The Church's grievances against the Beatles included drug use, the spread of potentially Satanic messages buried in their music, and, of course, John Lennon's infamous1966 jibe that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus.

In a 1966 interview, Lennon quipped, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I'll be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first rock 'n' roll or Christianity." The Catholic Church was intensely riled up by the comments at the time, but posthumously forgave Lennon in 2008.

"While Sir Paul McCartney and George Harrison were baptized as Catholics, neither followed the faith," the Telegraph writes, adding, "Earlier this year Ringo Starr admitted he had finally found religion saying: 'For me, God is in my life. I don't hide from that. I think the search has been on since the 1960s.'"

Below, a video of John Lennon explaining his infamous remark:

For more, check out PopEater's Eight Cringworthy Celebrity Jesus Moments.

Tags: beatles, Catholic, ringo starr, vatican

Comments

(22)

Tuesday 13 April

By Jim Elder

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The Catholic Church address every human failure but their own. They question every human that sins in the news, but cannot admit to the crimes you or i would still be in jail for. Hipocracy at its worst

By parrotsplace

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Wait wait wait. Since when does a church forgive instead of God? Sheezzz... now the Catholic church thinks it's BETTER then God. hahahahah

By Sin D

Well said....its a sad story with the richest organization on earth

By kittylit

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I'm speechless...

By Harvey J.Satan

Wow. I'm sure The Beatles are sleeping a lot easier NOW!

By jnjpaullus

John is dead and the Catholic Church is still alive. Like Jesus said to his Church " I am with you always, till the end of time"

By friskginger

Remember this: Jesus was never a catholic nor a christian.
He was a loyal, practicing Jew.
It's ironic that the Romans executed him and have the
nerve to call it the Roman catholic church.
Lennon was right, christianity is on it's way out.
Thank God for that.

By Hot Mamma Jamma

Who the hell asked them for forgiveness? Isn't ego a sin?

By connie

Who really cares what the Pope says. He lost whatever little credibility he had when he protected the pedophile priest!!

By Mike

No one cares what some faded band member thinks...today, he's not even bigger than Bob from the mini-mart. LOL

By peapers

John Lennon, by his own admission, was a clown; and anyone who takes a musical performers babble seriously is a clown too. There are far too many intelligent, and vastly more important, people in history to even consider John Lennon's televised quips as anything worth paying attention to.

Religion is stabled by people, and people are flawed. Sometimes, gravely so. The Catholic Church, like any organization, has always had it's problems, but the message that Jesus brought to the world will ALWAYS shine through.

To be honest, I am a practicing Catholic, but I kind of agree with Ringo on this. Who cares if the Catholic Church forgives John Lennon. I think they have much larger problems to address at this time.

By js

John thought he was better than Christ, hopefully he asked God for forgiveness when he was shot. John was just an ordinary human being, flesh and bone, just like the rest of us. As for the pope? Well, all of the popes throughout history think they are the same as Christ. Which in itself is blasphemy. We all need forgiveness everyday...even the pope...BUT there is only one way to obtain it. And it isn't through the pope or John.

By Season

No John did not say he was better than Jesus. He said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, when Beatlemania was had it highest. He was right, just like now when people care more about the latest internet news sensation than Jesus. Some things never change.

By Rich

Ok.. I am Catholic, have a strong faith in god, and I have to say, the Church and this Pope have quite a pair to make this statement.. Are you kidding me.. The Church, not the faith, is a joke...
Get Real and fix your own house !

By John

Worry less about the Beatles and more about the pedophiles.

By chris

Who will forgive the Vatican?

By brad

I love the Beatles and I am a Christian. People who were on the scene at the time will agree with Lennon.
They were bigger than Jesus, for a time. And whose fault is
that? Parents? The Church? Beatles?
Think about it, and listen to him again. He never said they were better than Christ, only bigger, for a time, and the second he said it, they ceased to be bigger than Jesus, in everyones eyes, which is where they wanted to be. They just wanted to be a successful little band which is how they thought of themselves. They didn't want to be bigger than Jesus, they just were, for a time. And their legacy will live on for a long time. But Christs legacy, and Christianity will live on forever. The power of Christ makes it so.

You sound like an angry clown.

By ischoolem

Then, like now, artists seem to think the world wants their opinion on everything from politics to religion... no one does! We want you to sing or dance or act- that's it!

As for the Pope...God forgives-not you old man-

Funny how a person says they believe in God with a lowercase "g" but capitalizes the "p" in pope and the "c" in church. But that is another argument. I think anyone a sad joke for saying that anyone is better than anyone else. We are all (including the pope and any priest or pastor, etc.) lowly humans. Just because you can sing ( and that is debatable in some formats) or just plain know how to make a lot of money does not make you better just makes you more rich in earthly materials. LOL and as far as singing goes? There are some out there making money that I can sing better than and that is reallllllly bad.

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