Sex, drugs and rock-and-roll; thumbing their noses at authority, both governmental and religious; and outrageous haircuts – that’s what we all think of when we think of…The Beatles.
What a difference a few decades makes – we’ve reached the Lady Gaga age, and pop music has evolved to the point that even the Vatican realizes the Beatles ain’t all that bad, officially forgiving them for John Lennon’s claims in 1966 that the band was “more popular than Jesus.”

In an interview [Lennon] said: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity.”

Two years ago the Church forgave Lennon’s comments, calling them the “boasting of an English working-class lad struggling to cope with unexpected success”. But now, in an article in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, “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’.”
The article, entitled “Seven Years That Shook Music,” offers the Beatles complete absolution:

“Its true they took drugs, lived life to excess because of their success, even said they were bigger than Jesus and put out mysterious messages, that were possibly even Satanic. They may not have been the best example for the youth of the day but they were by no means the worst. Their beautiful melodies changed music and continue to give pleasure.”
And referring to the band’s acrimonious split in April 1970, the article added: “Rather then expressing regret at their break up perhaps the question should be what would pop music have been like without the Beatles?”

Which leaves this blogger with only one conclusion: the Vatican is really enjoying The Beatles: Rock Band.