David Bowie, the 69-year-old British pop artist, songwriter and actor, died January 10th after a long battle with cancer. Bowie had just released his 25th and final album, "Blackstar," which contains only seven songs. One is a piece called Lazarus, which, perhaps prophetically, contains the lyrics: "Look up here, I'm in heaven." He received a moving tribute from a surprising source—the Vatican. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who serves as the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, tweeted "may God's love be with you."

One article noted that "in a 2003 interview, Bowie, who had dabbled with Christianity, confessed to not being quite an atheist." "Questioning my spiritual life has always been germane to what I was writing. Always. It's because I'm not quite an atheist and it worries me. There's that little bit that holds on." "The years really do speed by," he said. "Life really is as short as they tell you it is. And there really is a God—so do I buy that one? If all the other clichés are true. … (Expletive)… don't pose me that one."

Source:

Thomas Williams, “Vatican Pays Extraordinary Tribute to David Bowie, in His Own Words,” Breitbart (1-12-16); Leonardo Blair, “David Bowie, Icon Who Experimented With Christianity, Dies After Battle With Cancer,” Christian Post (1-11-16)