Lennon "Forgiven" By Vatican

PARIS (AFP) — The Vatican's daily newspaper marked the 40th anniversary of the "The White Album" by dismissing as a "quip" John Lennon's notorious claim that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus Christ. The legendary double album — which came out on November 22, 1968 at the height of the Fab Four's influence and popularity — was "a magical musical anthology" from a band "full of talent," L'Osservatore Romano said.  Rather inevitably, its lengthy article kicked off with Lennon's remark to a London newspaper in March 1966 that "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink … We're more popular than Jesus now". 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. "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.        http://www.religionnewsblog.com/22969/bigger-than-jesus

Here's another take on the incident from Wikipedia...  

Lennon complained that nobody heard them play for all the screaming, and their musicianship was beginning to suffer.[62] By the time he wrote his 1965 song "Help!", he said he was subconsciously crying out for help and seeking change.[63] The catalyst for this change occurred on 4 March 1966, when Lennon was interviewed for the London Evening Standard by Maureen Cleave, and talked about Christianity by saying: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I do not know what will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity...We're more popular than Jesus now."[64] Five months later, an American teen magazine called Datebook reprinted part of the quote on its front cover. The American Bible Belt protested in the South and Midwest, and conservative groups staged public burnings of Beatles' records and memorabilia. Many radio stations banned The Beatles' music, and some concert venues cancelled performances. At a press conference in Chicago, on 11 August 1966, Lennon addressed the growing controversy:

"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, "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."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_lennon