# So, the Vatican has absolved the Beatles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910 "2010-04-13T01:35:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/1 "2010-04-13T01:35:00Z")
Just saw this and thought it was interesting. I’m neither a Catholic nor a Beatles fan, (the band’s heyday years were a few decades before my time), but I’m very much appreciative of the affect they’ve had on pop music and rock. However the peculiar timing of this particular announcement doesn’t appear to have escaped critics of the church. From the original article… > [@](#): > > The decision to heap praise on the group in the middle of a series of sex-abuse scandals raised eyebrows among commentators. > > One said: ‘With all that is going on within the Church, to write about The Beatles instead of focusing on the scandal of abusive clergy does seem rather odd.’ So is this simply an attempt to deflect recently reignited criticism regarding the pedophilia scandals? It seems long overdue to me personally, but the motivations also seem terribly transparent. [Vatican forgives the Beatles.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1265220/Forty-years-Vatican-tells-Beatles-We-love-yeah-yeah-yeah.html) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/2 "2010-04-13T01:41:36Z")
[Ringo’s not buying it.](http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/04/12/ringo.starr.vatican.beatles/index.html?hpt=C2) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/3 "2010-04-13T01:50:47Z")
Father MacKenzie Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave No one was saved . . . ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/4 "2010-04-13T01:57:28Z")
So, apparently they \*are \*bigger than Jesus… The timing on this might seem ‘suspicious’, but I doubt that plays into this at all. The Vatican is not known for being quick-acting when it comes to changing their stance on matters, whether large or small. If there is anything more to this story than “they finally got around to admitting they were wrong”, I think its a matter of “let’s try to look a little hip, and just a bit less like a bunch of stodgy old Italian guys (and a German)” than “oh shit, we’d better talk about rock and roll so that people will forget about all of these sex abuse scandals”. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/5 "2010-04-13T02:06:37Z")
Meh, it wasn’t until like 1995 that the Southern Baptist Convention officially declared their opposition to slavery. Religious institutions are not quick to switch gears. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/6 "2010-04-13T02:22:40Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Meh, it wasn’t until like 1995 that the Southern Baptist Convention officially declared their opposition to slavery. Religious institutions are not quick to switch gears. You have a good point. I’m glad it didn’t take them a hundred years to realize that the Beatles weren’t the threat to civilization that they thought they were. Now here’s to hoping they don’t take another hundred to realize pedophile priests need to be defrocked and removed rather than relocated to a different parish. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/7 "2010-04-13T02:24:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Ringo’s not buying it.](http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/04/12/ringo.starr.vatican.beatles/index.html?hpt=C2) > [@](#): > > But Starr told CNN: "Didn’t the Vatican say we were satanic or possibly satanic – and they’ve still forgiven us? That does seem rather odd considering they didn’t exactly rescind that notion. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/8 "2010-04-13T02:38:12Z")
Hear, hear! ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/9 "2010-04-13T15:03:31Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Meh, it wasn’t until like 1995 that the Southern Baptist Convention officially declared their opposition to slavery. And they still haven’t convinced me that they mean it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/10 "2010-04-13T16:28:35Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Ringo’s not buying it.](http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/04/12/ringo.starr.vatican.beatles/index.html?hpt=C2) “Fookin’ bead mumblers, they’ll only reject me in the end” ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/11 "2010-04-13T16:48:49Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > “Fookin’ bead mumblers, they’ll only reject me in the end” You’ve got an inferiority complex, you have. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/12 "2010-04-13T17:06:39Z")
They’re getting better. It only took them 41 years to forgive the Beatles. It took them 359 years to say the same thing about Galileo. And he could carry a tune in a bucket! ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/13 "2010-04-13T20:13:48Z")
Is this an official statement by the Vatican or just some commentary in the Vatican newspaper? If The Washington Post gives their next rerelease a bad review does that mean Barack Obama hates them? Seriously, you’re trusting the Daily Mail on this? Until it’s in the Sun, color me sceptical. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/14 "2010-04-13T20:24:07Z")
I won’t believe it unless the next pope takes the name George Ringo I. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/15 "2010-04-13T20:25:19Z")
This just seems surreal, to me. Had the Vatican made an official statement against them that they’re now rescinding? Why are the Beatles even a topic of discussion at all? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/16 "2010-04-13T21:12:30Z")
Do the media just not have anything better to write about? This isn’t even the FIRST time the Vatican “forgave” the Beatles. They figured out YEARS ago that John Lennon was just a wiseass high school dropout, rather than genuinely evil. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/17 "2010-04-13T21:18:54Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Is this an official statement by the Vatican or just some commentary in the Vatican newspaper? If The Washington Post gives their next rerelease a bad review does that mean Barack Obama hates them? The comparison of Obama and the Washington Post is way off (the Vatican owns the paper, and the White House doesn’t own the Post), but I think you’re right. It’s the official Vatican newspaper but this is not a doctrinal statement. It’s the newspaper’s opinion. [Here’s a more nuanced article about it.](http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=20595) ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/18 "2010-04-13T21:44:55Z")
Now that the Vatican likes them they aren’t cool anymore ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/19 "2010-04-13T21:48:26Z")
Now when are they going to forgive the molestation victims? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910/20 "2010-04-13T23:30:26Z")
Oh, yeah, sure, wait until three of them are dead! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-vatican-has-absolved-the-beatles/535910.md?page=2)