Composer-priest clarifies Jackson story:

But, the priest told Catholic News Service, to have Jackson sing one of the songs or to be part of a choir singing a song might have helped sales, reaching greater numbers of people.

However, when a Scottish newspaper published a story Feb. 6 saying there had been "secret discussions between the Roman Catholic Church and Michael Jackson to put the prayers of Pope John Paul II to music," the project began to fall apart.

"It would be very difficult for the Vatican to accept the project," said Father Moscati, director of Edizioni Musicali Terzo Millennio, a sacred music publishing and promotion company.

"Although he has been absolved by the courts" on charges of the sexual abuse of minors, it is clear Jackson’s image "cannot be put alongside that of the pope," Father Moscati said.

The priest said he still would not mind the singer being involved on some level, but the furor created by the news reports makes Vatican approval doubtful.

"I did not go looking for him or for anyone else," the priest said.

He mentioned the project to an acquaintance who claimed to know Jackson "and I thought he had contact with other singers as well."

"I never met Michael Jackson or his representatives or his lawyers," the priest said. "And it was very inappropriate of them to tell the press."