John Lennon Finally Forgiven by Vatican

Decades after John Lennon's comments about the Beatles becoming more famous than Jesus Christ, the Vatican's newspaper has finally forgiven him, calling the remark a "boast" by a young man struggling with newfound fame.

The comment by Lennon was uttered in 1966 to a London-based newspaper, and infuriated Christians around the world - especially those in the United States - many of whom burned Beatles albums in huge, Fahrenheit 451-style fires.

"The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a 'boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll," the Vatican daily newspaper, Osservatore Romano, said.

The article further went on to praise the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' The White Album.

"The fact remains that 38 years after breaking up, the songs of the Lennon-McCartney brand have shown an extraordinary resistance to the passage of time, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians," it said.

John Lennon was murdered in New York in 1980.