42 years after John Lennon said during an interview for London Evening Standard that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano published an official forgiveness of the famous singer.

During the interview, John Lennon, who was back then 26-years-old, talked about Christianity and made the famous remark: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I do not know what will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity...We're more popular than Jesus now."

“Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me, " Lennon added.

When the interview was published five months later in the United State, Lennon’s claim has triggered numerous protests, some radio station banned the group’s music and Beatles were forced to cancel several shows.

John Lennon apologized for his remark during a press conference held in Chicago in August 1966, explaining that his words were "never meant to be a lousy anti-religion thing." Vatican accepted the apology. The Beatles performed their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 29 August 1966.

Now, Saturday's edition L'Osservatore Romano noted in an article dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' "White Album", the Lennon’s remark was a "boast by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll."

Mark David Chapman killed John Lennon in 1980 in New York. Earlier this year, the New York State Division of Parole denied Chapman’s prison release for a fifth time.

Chapman has been kept in imprisonment for almost 28 years. He was sentenced to 20 years to life after pleading guilty to the killing. The parole board decision indicates that he will continue to stay in custody in New York’s Attica Correctional Facility for at least two more years, “due to concern for the public safety and welfare.”

Last week, Sir Paul McCartney announced that a "lost" Beatles track recorded in 1967 and performed just once in public will finally be released.

The 14-minute hidden Beatles track called "Carnival of Light" will bring the fabulous band back into the music charts once again.

According to McCartney this is by far the most experimental track the Beatles ever put to tape. It appears the band played the recording for an audience just once, at an electronic music festival in London. It reportedly includes distorted guitar, organ sounds, gargling and shouts of "Barcelona!" and "Are you all right?" from McCartney and John Lennon.

He also told BBC Radio 4 regarding "Carnival of Light" that "the time has come for it to get its moment" and that it shows the Beatles "going off piste." But in order to enable it to be made public, McCartney needs the approval of Ringo, as well as the widows of Lennon and Harrison, Yoko Ono and Olivia.