"The Vatican’s newspaper has finally forgiven John Lennon for declaring that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, calling the remark a “boast” by a young man grappling with sudden fame."
Vatican forgives John Lennon for Jesus quip - The Vatican- msnbc.com
It’s hard to interpret this as anything other than an attempt by the Church to get a headline. I don’t think Lennon’s remaining family members were asking for forgiveness. Lennon himself wasn’t Catholic. This isn’t an issue, like Galileo or the Holocaust, which was damaging the church. This is really just a publicity play, isn’t it?
