Rock of ages – and catholic tastes

Published on Sunday 23 November 2008 20:34

WERE The Beatles anti-religious? On the side of the angels? Or somewhere in between? Big questions need time for deliberation. Thus, 42 years after John Lennon outraged Christians by claiming that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus, the Vatican's official newspaper has pronounced in a long editorial that it was ... a youthful joke.

It would be wrong to seize on this as the Vatican's last word on the matter. It may be best regarded at this stage as an interim and tentative conclusion. After all, editorials in L'Osservatore Romano are meant to last longer than the three minutes of a typical Beatles track.

The editorial marks the 40th anniversary of the release of The Beatles' White Album. It praises John Lennon and the other Beatles, and takes a more understanding view of the controversial remarks made in 1966 when Lennon said, "We're more popular than Jesus now – I don't know which will go first, rock'n'roll or Christianity." After many years, says the article, "it sounds only like a 'boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success."

As it turns out, it can be said both have survived the test of time rather well. The Pope still holds the allegiance of millions – and Beatles tracks play on. It may require another 40 years before any definitive conclusion can be reached.