Mentors Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Mired in controversy over claims of institutional sexual abuse and cover-ups, the Vatican appears to be trying to deflect some of the criticism by publicly praising the music of the Beatles as "beautiful." "It's true, they took drugs; swept up by their success, they lived dissolute and uninhibited lives," L'Osservatore Romano, the official newspaper of the Vatican, said in a weekend tribute to the 40th anniversary of the band's breakup. "But listening to their songs, all of this seems distant and meaningless. "Their beautiful melodies, which changed pop music forever and still give us emotions, live on like precious jewels." For some, however, the paper's timing seems self-serving, given the ongoing series of allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic priests worldwide and the big question of whether Pope Benedict XVI – previously known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – knew about the cases and what he did about them. [color:red]The words of praise and forgiveness may be too little too late for at least one surviving former Beatle.[/color] [color:red]Drummer Ringo Starr said he couldn't care less whether or not the Vatican praised the Beatles' music. He told CNN: "Didn't the Vatican say we were satanic or possibly satanic, and they've still forgiven us? I think the Vatican, they've got more to talk about than the Beatles."[/color] The Catholic Church and the working-class band from Liverpool had an acrimonious relationship. It began when singer John Lennon told a London Evening Standard reporter in March 1966 that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." Lennon told reporter Maureen Cleave: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. "We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first – rock'n'roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me." The Catholic Church also criticized the Beatles for putting out mysterious messages that were "possibly even satanic" in their music, a suggestion the band scoffed at. Lennon, who was shot dead in New York in 1980, angered not just the Catholic Church but other Christians and religious leaders with his comments. While his remarks didn't cause much of a stir in England, they triggered a kind of mass hysteria in the southern United States. There, some radio stations banned Beatles music and rallies were held where teens stomped on the band's albums and burned its records and books on bonfires at rallies. Lennon also received numerous death threats and the Ku Klux Klan protested a Beatles concert in Alabama. The Vatican eventually forgave Lennon. In a 2008 editorial in L'Osservatore Romano in honour of the 40th anniversary of the White Album, Lennon was given absolution. The newspaper praised the White Album for remaining a "magical musical anthology." The article in L'Osservatore Romano also suggested Lennon's remarks at the time were nothing more than "showing off, bragging by a young English working-class musician who had grown up in the age of Elvis Presley and rock and roll and had enjoyed unexpected success," The Guardian reports. The Vatican paper went on to praise the pop icons, saying only "snobs" would dismiss the Beatles' songs. Earlier this year, the Beatles also made headlines in L'Osservatore Romano when two of its writers put together a "semi-serious guide" to the all-time best rock and pop albums. The Beatles' Revolver was given the No. 1 spot. This weekend, the Vatican newspaper printed two articles praising the Beatles, and also ran a front-page cartoon that reproduced the famous crosswalk found on the band's album cover for Abbey Road. L'Osservatore Romano said in its weekend edition that the Beatles' songs have stood the test of time and that the group remains "the longest-lasting, most consistent and representative phenomenon in the history of pop music." http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/article/794347--vatican-pays-tribute-to-dissolute-beatles?bn=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 << "Their beautiful melodies, which changed pop music forever and still give us emotions, live on like precious jewels." >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMimYkpYzM0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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