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Post by lennonlegend on Nov 24, 2008 15:54:05 GMT 1
A Vatican newspaper has forgiven the late English singer John Lennon for saying four decades ago that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus. In an article praising The Beatles, L'Osservatore Romano said Lennon had just been showing off. Lennon told a British newspaper in 1966 - at the height of Beatlemania - that he did not know which would die out first, Christianity or rock and roll. At the time, the comparison sparked controversy in the US. The semi-official Vatican newspaper marked the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' "White Album" with an article praising Lennon and the Fab Four from Liverpool. Youthful joke The paper dismissed Lennon's much-criticised remark that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ as a youthful joke. The paper described the remark as "showing off, bragging by a young English working-class musician who had grown up in the age of Elvis Presley and rock and roll and had enjoyed unexpected success". Charles Wheeler on the reaction to John Lennon's claim in 1966 L'Osservatore Romano recently got a new editor and now - apart from chronicling the Pope's daily doings and printing the texts of papal speeches - it sometimes runs articles on entertainment on inside pages, together with extensive reporting on world affairs. In a half-page illustrated article, the paper praised The Beatles for what it called their "unique and strange alchemy of sounds and words". The newspaper said The Beatles's songs had shown an extraordinary capacity for survival and the White Album album remained a "magical musical anthology". In another article on the same page entitled "Twilight of the gods" the newspaper lamented the passing of the golden days of Hollywood and said the mysterious fascination of the star system of Hollywood in the 1950s had been superseded by the cult of so-called celebrities. Although Pope Benedict has criticised many aspects of modern pop culture, he now allows the newspaper of the tiny independent Vatican state to reflect the reality of the world outside in a way that would have been unthinkable in the days of Pope Paul VI who reigned during heyday of The Beatles. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7744282.stm |
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Post by Euan Buchan on Nov 24, 2008 20:07:10 GMT 1
It was even on the news
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Post by powertothepeople on Nov 25, 2008 2:53:28 GMT 1
Wow, it took them 42+ years to finally forgive him, even though his comment was actually critisizing thier (The Beatles) insane popularity at the time, not boasting that they're greater then him/christianity.
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thisisonebigword
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Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
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Post by thisisonebigword on Nov 25, 2008 12:54:11 GMT 1
Wow. It's about freaking time. Maybe they could've 'forgiven' him when he was ALIVE?? Anyone think of that?  |
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lucyinthesky77
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Post by lucyinthesky77 on Nov 25, 2008 12:57:19 GMT 1
Seems like Vatican PR to me. I'm sure John's mightily relieved...Honestly! he said 'more popular than' not 'BETTER than' folks!
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Post by nowheregirl on Nov 26, 2008 21:51:40 GMT 1
Wow, it took them 42+ years to finally forgive him, even though his comment was actually critisizing thier (The Beatles) insane popularity at the time, not boasting that they're greater then him/christianity. That's what I thought as soon as I read this article - they still haven't understood what John was trying to say. He wasn't just boasting or bragging, he was asked for his opinion on religion and he gave it. There was nothing to 'forgive' him for, in my opinion. "Well, originally I pointed 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 as a fact and it's true more for England than here. I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this." - John Lennon, 1966 |
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Post by onolennon on Nov 28, 2008 23:12:39 GMT 1
They haven't got the hang of it yet. They still don't understand what he meant. After all these years... Co'mon! He didn't do anything wrong, he wasn't comparing the lads to God, or Jesus, for that matter. This is so silly I just want to laugh at it. After all these years... |
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Post by dumbslugs on Nov 29, 2008 0:20:59 GMT 1
'Bout time. ¬_¬ *sigh* Religon....
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artistchik
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Post by artistchik on Nov 29, 2008 1:13:04 GMT 1
Some people just liked to nitpick at every little thing John said. If they'd had even the slightest clue about the amount of music-loving 'kids' gathering in their church services at the time as compared to the countless numbers of those attending Beatles performances, it SHOULD HAVE been apparent to them that what he said was absolutely true. Then came all that record-burning nonsense....especially in the Southern US, which seemed to me just another way for some over-zealous, self-righteous, "so-called", self-proclaimed Christians to put the 'Devil' stamp on music that they didn't want their kids liking in the first place, but didn't have the balls to say or do anything about it before John's statement was put to print. It was much easier for the cowards to point the finger at John Lennon for being the main reason they didn't want their kids idolizing a rock band...especially those 'foreigners' from Liverpool. If the band had been from Texas, Georgia or Alabama and sang bluegrass country instead of rock, the whole damn thing probably would've been either overlooked completely or forgotten in about ten minutes. And what's all this now with the Vatican calling it the 'boast' of a young man grappling with sudden fame? WTF? They STILL don't get it....even after forty-two freakin' years! They 'forgive' him? I give up! I guess I'll just have to forgive The Vatican for their continued short-sightedness and wait for their next joke. |
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strawberryfields8
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Post by strawberryfields8 on Nov 29, 2008 3:52:48 GMT 1
Some people just liked to nitpick at every little thing John said. If they'd had even the slightest clue about the amount of music-loving 'kids' gathering in their church services at the time as compared to the countless numbers of those attending Beatles performances, it SHOULD HAVE been apparent to them that what he said was absolutely true. Then came all that record-burning nonsense....especially in the Southern US, which seemed to me just another way for some over-zealous, self-righteous, "so-called", self-proclaimed Christians to put the 'Devil' stamp on music that they didn't want their kids liking in the first place, but didn't have the balls to say or do anything about it before John's statement was put to print. It was much easier for the cowards to point the finger at John Lennon for being the main reason they didn't want their kids idolizing a rock band...especially those 'foreigners' from Liverpool. If the band had been from Texas, Georgia or Alabama and sang bluegrass country instead of rock, the whole damn thing probably would've been either overlooked completely or forgotten in about ten minutes. And what's all this now with the Vatican calling it the 'boast' of a young man grappling with sudden fame? WTF? They STILL don't get it....even after forty-two freakin' years! They 'forgive' him? I give up! I guess I'll just have to forgive The Vatican for their continued short-sightedness and wait for their next joke. Well put! I agree 100%  |
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Post by djtbilisi on Jan 22, 2009 21:39:49 GMT 1
Some people just liked to nitpick at every little thing John said. If they'd had even the slightest clue about the amount of music-loving 'kids' gathering in their church services at the time as compared to the countless numbers of those attending Beatles performances, it SHOULD HAVE been apparent to them that what he said was absolutely true. Then came all that record-burning nonsense....especially in the Southern US, which seemed to me just another way for some over-zealous, self-righteous, "so-called", self-proclaimed Christians to put the 'Devil' stamp on music that they didn't want their kids liking in the first place, but didn't have the balls to say or do anything about it before John's statement was put to print. It was much easier for the cowards to point the finger at John Lennon for being the main reason they didn't want their kids idolizing a rock band...especially those 'foreigners' from Liverpool. If the band had been from Texas, Georgia or Alabama and sang bluegrass country instead of rock, the whole damn thing probably would've been either overlooked completely or forgotten in about ten minutes. And what's all this now with the Vatican calling it the 'boast' of a young man grappling with sudden fame? WTF? They STILL don't get it....even after forty-two freakin' years! They 'forgive' him? I give up! I guess I'll just have to forgive The Vatican for their continued short-sightedness and wait for their next joke. I agree with u!!! That was some kind of defencing society who were framed in ti's social or religion stuff.. huh, this is my country Georgia, But not from united states it post Soviet Union Country and we have such kind of prolems that oldies had that time in USA... ehhhh..  ( |
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Post by johnlennonfan94 on Jan 30, 2009 21:58:12 GMT 1
I know really right it took them at least 42 years to forgive him a little to late for that dont you think |
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lennonfan909
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Post by lennonfan909 on Feb 2, 2009 1:28:44 GMT 1
i think if John were alive today, he would have a good laugh at the Vatican's statement. He didn't say anything that required their forgiveness...and I'm pretty sure John was not holding his breath waiting for their approval/forgiveness... |
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beatlestone
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Post by beatlestone on May 13, 2009 21:07:37 GMT 1
John was right about the Beatles, being more popular than Jesus, back in the 60's & there shouldn't have been any controversy. The cool thing is he apologized, without really apologizing & held his belief until he was killed. The young people were digging the Fab 4, as well as the Stones, more so than the Bible, at the time. The Vatican forgiving Lennon is great, but the South never will, because his comments are still controversial, to this day.
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