Did the Pope really forgive John Lennon for his ‘Bigger than Jesus’ remark?

IT was widely reported this week that the Vatican had forgiven the late John Lennon for declaring, almost half-a-century ago:

Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.

The “pardon” reports – and here is one from the New York Times – were based on an editorial in L’Osservatore Romano marking the 40th anniversary of the release of the Beatles’ White Album.

Said the Vatican’s daily paper:

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.

Lennon was 26 when he famously told London’s Evening Standard newspaper in 1966 that his band, The Beatles, were more popular than Jesus. When the comments were reprinted in the United States and other parts of the world they caused an uproar, and led to the burning of Beatles albums by furious fundies.

But Lennon remained unrepentant, saying:

I was pointing out that fact, in reference to England, that we meant more to kids than Jesus did or religion at that time. I wasn’t knocking it or putting it down, I was just saying it for the fact.

But according to this report, a prominent Catholic Australian historian said the Pope was unlikely to be behind the apparent pardon.

Paul Collins said the opinions printed in the paper do not necessarily reflect those of the Pope.

It is checked on by the Secretariat of State, I suppose we would call it censored by the Secretariat of State which is really the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet within the Vatican.

But while its articles on theology would certainly be taken as representing the Vatican’s point of view, something like this John Lennon article sounds like a bit of a colour piece, as we would call it in Australia.

He said it would be a stretch to assume that the Pope has now forgiven Lennon for those controversial comments.

Collins added:

I think Benedict the 16th would hardly know who John Lennon was. I know that that might be surprising to many people, but the reality is that Joseph Ratzinger – Benedict the 16th – is a man whose entire interest is in classical music and more particularly in Mozart. So I think it is quite unlikely that he would be a keen listener to John Lennon and very unlikely that he would care very much about John Lennon at all.