World / John Lennon John, You Are Forgiven—and You Could Sing Vatican pardons Lennon for infamous Jesus comment By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff Posted Nov 22, 2008 5:53 PM CST Copied The Beatles, clockwise from top left, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison are shown on an album cover in 1965. (AP Photo/Robert Freeman- Copyright Apple Corps Ltd.) The Vatican forgave John Lennon today for saying the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, Reuters reports. Calling the 1966 remark "a boast,” the Vatican's newspaper said it was made "by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success." The paper also praised the Beatles' music, saying "the songs of the Lennon-McCartney brand have shown an extraordinary resistance to the passage of time.” (More John Lennon stories.) Report an error