Bishop Antonio Staglianò, president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, has described John Lennon’s 1971 song “Imagine” – which calls for a world with “no heaven” and “no religion too” – as the “most beautiful song in the world” endorsing its vision of abolishing any religion, God or heaven for which one “must kill or die” in a video posted on May 18.

The remarks, made in an Instagram post that subsequently went viral, have prompted widespread concern among Catholics after LifeSiteNews and the journalist Gaetano Masciullo first reported the story in detail.

In the video, Bishop Staglianò, who was appointed to lead the academy by Pope Francis in August 2022, stated: “Let’s abolish religion, let’s abolish God, let’s abolish heaven. Who says that? John Lennon, in the most beautiful song in the world, ‘Imagine’.”

He argued that the song rightly calls for the end of any faith – including references to the Crusades, Viking Valhalla and Islamic extremism – that demands violence or martyrdom. He further claimed that Jesus, before the high priest Caiaphas, rejected attributing violent acts from the Old Testament, such as the slaying of Egypt’s firstborn or commands to Saul, to “my Abba”, insisting that God is “always and only love”.

On May 22, following criticism from priests and laity, the bishop released a second video in which he rejected accusations of heresy. “Me, a heretical bishop? That’s a luxury I can’t afford,” he said, adding that those who saw heresy in his words suffered from “doctrinal confusion”.

The Pontifical Academy of Theology, founded in 1718 by Pope Clement XI, exists to promote theological research in harmony with the Church’s magisterium.

Bishop Staglianò, formerly Bishop of Noto in Sicily, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, is a proponent of what he terms “pop theology”, which seeks to present the Faith in simplified, popular language. He has previously participated in dialogues with Freemasons, including a closed-door event in Milan in February 2024, while later affirming the Church’s teaching on the irreconcilability of Catholic doctrine with Masonic membership.

The bishop’s statements appear to stand in tension with core elements of Christian and Catholic teaching on divine revelation, sacrificial love and martyrdom. The Gospel records Jesus Christ declaring: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The Church has understood this as encompassing not only the Lord’s own redemptive death, but also the witness of martyrs who, across centuries, have accepted death rather than deny the Faith.

Catholic tradition distinguishes the martyr’s voluntary acceptance of death for the sake of truth and love from acts of aggression or forced conversion. The Catechism of the Catholic Church presents martyrdom as “the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith” (CCC 2473), a reality honoured from the early Church through the Roman persecutions to the present day in regions of active hostility.

Such themes find robust expression in the writings of GK Chesterton. In Orthodoxy, the English author observed: “Sham love ends in compromise and common philosophy; but real love has always ended in bloodshed.” Chesterton contrasted shallow fraternity that dissolves into vague agreement with the costly, dividing character of authentic divine love, which he saw as necessarily provoking opposition in a fallen world.

The Church has long maintained the unity of God across the Old and New Testaments, with Christ Himself affirming in Matthew 5:17 that He came not to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfil them.

“Imagine” continues to function as a secular humanist anthem. Bishop Staglianò had, in 2022, criticised a public display of its lyrics in Bologna as an “insipid anticlerical provocation”, underscoring an apparent evolution in his public commentary on the work.

The current episode forms part of broader discussions within the Church on the limits of inculturation and the presentation of doctrine.