Photo: © 1964 AP via AAP

The weekend edition of the Vatican's official newpaper, L'Osservatore Romano, featured a glowing front page tribute to the band it once accused of indulging in Satanism.

The article, written to mark the 40th anniversary of the band's break-up, calls them "a precious jewel" and asks where pop music would be without them.

“It’s true, they took drugs; swept up by their success, they lived dissolute and uninhibited lives …[but] listening to their songs, all of this seems distant and meaningless.

"Their beautiful melodies, which changed forever pop music and still give us emotions, live on like precious jewels.”

But the article has left many – including drummer Ringo Starr – wondering where the Vatican's priorities are at.

"I think the Vatican, they've got more to talk about than the Beatles," he told CNN.

For many, the Vatican should be talking about the institutionalised child sex allegations it is currently facing and which it is accused of continually brushing aside.
 
"The Holy See can no longer ignore international law, which now counts the widespread or systematic sexual abuse of children as a crime against humanity," writes Geoffrey Robertson in The Guardian.