John Lennon's "bigger than Jesus" statement "forgiven by the Vatican"?

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My wife said a friend told her that the Vatican “forgave” John Lennon for his statement that the Beatles were bigger/more influential than Jesus (I don’t know the exact quote).

Is this true, or is it somehow misleading? Another thread mentioned that it was actually something related to the Vatican NEWSPAPER, not the Vatican itself. And why would the Catholic Church need to make such a statement regarding a non-Catholic anyway?
 
The burden of proof is on the individual making extraordinary claims.
Regardless, the Vatican doesn’t “forgive” non-Catholics… what would that even mean? Absolution? Removal of canonical sanctions? Neither apply to a non-Catholic.
 
Your wife probably read some articles like this one, which uses a lot of religious imagery.


What actually happened is better detailed in the Wiki article entitled “More popular than Jesus” (which contains footnotes to sources):
In a 2008 article marking the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ double album The Beatles (also known as the “White Album”), the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, issued the statement:
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. The fact remains that 38 years after breaking up, the songs of the Lennon-McCartney brand have shown an extraordinary resistance to the passage of time, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians.[36]
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In response to the statement, Starr said “Didn’t the Vatican say we were possibly Satanic, and they’ve still forgiven us? I think the Vatican’s got more to talk about than the Beatles.”[37][38] In its 14 April 2010 edition, L’Osservatore Romano responded to Starr’s comments, stating that “John Lennon had no need of forgiveness from the Vatican, L’Osservatore Romano reprinted its 1966 article on John Lennon’s comments. The 1966 L’Osservatore Romano article noted that Lennon had apologised for his comments and that fellow Beatle Paul McCartney had criticized them.”
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Thanks for the article.

A couple of points:
  1. L’Osservatore Romano is the “official Vatican newspaper,” but isn’t it true that the Vatican does not actually control what it publishes? And I seem to recall that it has published things which run against the Church, its teachings, or something like that? I don’t recall specifically, but I seem to remember something like that a while back.
  2. One paragraph in the article is puzzling:
    "But now 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”.
 
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  1. L’Osservatore Romano is owned by the Holy See, who presumably also exercises some editorial control over its content (Pope Francis has it under the Vatican communications office management), but the material printed in it represents the views of the article author, not of the Vatican, unless the article appears under the heading “Nostra Informazioni” or “Santa Sede”. As the Wiki aricle on the paper explains:
It is a common error to assume that the contents of the L’Osservatore Romano represent the views of the Magisterium, or the official position of the Holy See. In general, this is not the case, and the only parts of the Osservatore which represent the views of the Holy See are those that appear under the titles “Nostre Informazioni” or “Santa Sede”.[5] [6] At times the Magisterium disputes the contents of the Osservatore, e.g. a 2008 article expressed the desire that the debate on brain death be re‑opened because of new developments in the medical world. An official spokesman said that the article presented a personal opinion of the author and “did not reflect a change in the Catholic Church’s position”.[17]
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  1. I cannot find the L’Osservatore page from April 2010 in question because L’Osservatore does not have public online archives right now. However, the Vatican, no doubt in response to great public interest, has the entire April 10, 2010 L’Osservatore article on the Beatles reprinted on its website here. It seems apparent that this is the work of the two authors and, not having the words Nostra Informazioni or Santa Sede, is not an official pronouncement of the Pope. However, the fact that the Vatican has it on its website without further comment on it indicates to me that it probably agrees with, or at least is okay with, what is written. If you hit Google Translate on the page, the article does appear to refer to Beatles’ songs as “precious jewels” and is generally praising their body of songwriting work. The article was written for the 40th anniversary of the Beatles.
After the media wrote a bunch of articles saying the Vatican “forgave” or “absolved” the Beatles, L’Osservatore published a follow up article, also posted on the Vatican website, saying that the Beatles didn’t need absolution. Further discussed by Catholic News Agency in an English language article:

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican_paper_says_beatles_dont_need_absolution

The takeaway I’m getting is the Vatican doesn’t have a big problem with Catholics listening to the Beatles, unsurprising in view of Lennon’s later reputation as a world peace proponent who was tragically killed and was dead for 20 years when these articles came out.
 
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If I may ask, why are you so concerned with this issue of whether the Vatican has let bygones be bygones with a band from 50 years ago of which two members are dead and the other two seem to be trying to lead reasonably responsible lives, as celebs go?
 
Several reasons, I guess. Wondering about the validity of the story, wondering (if the story is true) why the Vatican would make such a statement – such as how “Catholic doctrine” or “Canon Law” factors into making such a statement, etc.

A lot of old stories are still interesting to learn about for various reasons, and this is one of those for me and my wife.
 
Fair enough. It’s an interesting story, I grant. John Lennon was always my favorite Beatle, anyway. I don’t think he meant to cause a big furor or realized how badly his remark would go over.
 
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Well, this is the same guy who wrote “Imagine there’s no heaven…”

Not sure how much time passed between his statement and the song, but he appears to have been a proponent of atheism for at least a few years.
 
“Imagine” was primarily a song against organized religions of all types, which John viewed skeptically, seeing them as interfering with peace and being run by charlatans generally. Although his views, and those of all the Beatles, varied over the years and for a time were quite agnostic if not atheist, they all got back on the God bus to some extent as they aged. Lennon gave an interview a couple months before his death in which he said people mistakenly thought he was not religious, and described himself as a very religious guy. Today we would probably describe him as “spiritual but not religious.” Anyway, I just always liked him - I related to his crabbiness. I pray for his soul.
 
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