Because he's bad, Jackson told to beat it.

Thank God for public outrage. The world recently came very close to hearing something that could have done irreparable harm to good--and possibly even bad--people everywhere: the prayers of Pope John Paul II set to music and sung by none other than Michael Jackson.

Luckily the word got out via a Scottish newspaper in February, and people freaked out. Father Giuseppe Moscati, director of the Italian music company that holds the rights to 24 of the late pope's prayers, told Catholic News Service that he thought having Jackson as one of the contributing artists could have boosted sales for the project. But since the public furor that resulted upon hearing the news, Moscati said, "It would be very difficult for the Vatican to accept the project."

He added that "although [Jackson] has been absolved by the courts," referring to Jackson's recent trial for child sex abuse, it was clear that his image "cannot be put alongside that of the pope."