ROME (LifeSiteNews) — The president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology has sparked outrage among Catholics after praising John Lennon’s Imagine, calling for the abolition of any religion “for which I must kill or die,” and attributing to Jesus doctrines condemned by the Church.

On May 18, a short video featuring Italian Bishop Antonio Staglianò went viral on Instagram. In the video, Staglianò argues that John Lennon’s famous pacifist song Imagine expresses a valid idea – namely, that the concepts of God, religion, and heaven should be abolished if they imply not only the necessity to “kill” but also the willingness to give one’s life for them. Moreover, in the same reel, he claims that Jesus told the high priest Caiaphas that several episodes of force or death found in the Old Testament should not be attributed to God.

“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,” Staglianò said.

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“A universal anthem to peace. Is he right or wrong? I, a bishop of the Catholic Church, tell you: John Lennon is right. Because John Lennon is saying that, in order to have peace in the world, we must abolish the kind of religion for which I must kill or die. This is the line that gives the proper interpretation and the true meaning of this beautiful song. We must abolish a heaven for which we must kill or die. For example, the Vikings’ Valhalla, which you enter with your sword drawn; the lush paradise of Islamic fundamentalism, for which you become a kamikaze and blow up half the world; and yes, even the Catholic heaven of the Crusades, where you slaughtered everyone, had your sins forgiven, and went to paradise.”

“I too, like John Lennon,” Staglianò continued, “do not want a religion for which I must kill or die, I do not want a heaven for which I must kill or die, I do not want a God for whom I must kill or die. And don’t worry – this was said, before John Lennon, two thousand years ago by Jesus of Nazareth.”

Staglianò concluded by stating his interpretation of the Gospel: “Standing before the High Priest, Jesus said: Get it out of your head that my Abba, my God, my Father killed the firstborn sons of Egypt or the charioteers and horses of the Egyptian army, or that He ordered Saul to put prisoners to the sword… Get it out of your head, because my Abba is always and only love. With my Abba you can only make peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness.”

On May 22, after a flood of indignant comments posted on the social media platform and numerous response videos from laypeople and priests scandalized by the bishop’s statements, Staglianò returned with a new video in which, instead of apologizing or clarifying his position, he doubled down.

“Me, a heretical bishop? That’s a luxury I can’t afford,” Staglianò quipped. “I am a bishop and, moreover – with all due respect – President of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, so I cannot be a heretical bishop. If someone thinks I’m speaking heresy, then clearly they have some doctrinal confusion in their head. Where exactly would I be heretical? In saying that we cannot associate violence and punishments with the Holy Face of the Lord?”

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Staglianò, a leading figure of so‑called Pop Theology – a current that advocates “lowering” the language of evangelization to a popular and simplified register – appears to have expressed a heresy long condemned by the Church: Marcionism.

According to Marcionism, the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are not the same; indeed, the Old Testament God would be a false deity – either a demon or a cultural reinterpretation by the ancient Israelites – and Christ would have come to reveal the true face of God, unknown to the Jews.

On the contrary, Jesus clearly and fully acknowledges the God of the Old Testament as the true God, not as a different or “violent” entity to be rejected. In Matthew 5:17, for example, we read: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Likewise, in Luke 4:25‑27, Jesus cites Elijah – who ordered the false priests of Baal to be put to the sword – and Elisha as examples of divine action.

Moreover, Jesus refers to the Great Flood as a just punishment willed by God. “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: people were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark; then the flood came and destroyed them all,” one reads in Luke 17:26-27.

Staglianò was appointed president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology by Pope Francis on August 6, 2022. The Pontifical Academy of Theology is one of the Vatican’s oldest academic institutions, founded in 1718 by Pope Clement XI. Its purpose is to promote theological research and dialogue in harmony with the Church’s magisterium.

In the past, Staglianò had already drawn attention for his controversial positions and statements. On February 16, 2024, the Archdiocese of Milan hosted a closed‑door dialogue between the Catholic Church and Freemasonry, restricted to selected journalists and invited guests. During the meeting, Staglianò delivered an extended address in which he downplayed Catholic doctrine to suggest a supposed affinity between Catholicism and Freemasonic thought.