PARIS (OSV News): One part of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games sent ripples of shock and disbelief around the world as Catholics felt offended by a parody of the Last Supper.
The four-hour spectacle July 26 started with a parade of athletes floating down the Seine River, accompanied by music and dancing scenes on top French monuments.
Notre Dame Cathedral, still under construction prior to its December 8 opening, was also featured with an extensive dance segment paying tribute to the construction workers who are rebuilding the icon of Paris following a 2019 fire. Dancers appeared to do aerial work on the scaffolding. The bells of the cathedral rang for the first time since the 2019 fire that nearly destroyed the building.
However as the show progressed, television cameras showed drag queens, one of whom wore a crown, seated at a table. The shape of the crown brought to mind a monstrance.
The scene was immediately interpreted as a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting of the Last Supper in Milan’s Dominican convent.
…while the ceremony was a ‘marvelous display of beauty and joy, rich in emotion and universally acclaimed,’ it ‘unfortunately included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity, which we deeply regret’
The drag queen table scene was later complemented with a nude singer appearing in the middle of a fruit basket, to represent Dionysus, ancient Greece’s god of wine, with the Olympic Games official profile on X, formerly Twitter, saying the depiction made us “aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”
The French Bishops Conference issued a statement on July 27 deploring the scenes at the opening of the Olympic Games.
They said that while the ceremony was a “marvelous display of beauty and joy, rich in emotion and universally acclaimed,” it “unfortunately included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity, which we deeply regret”
The bishops wrote, “We would like to thank the members of other religious denominations who have expressed their solidarity with us.”
“We are thinking of all the Christians on every continent who have been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of certain scenes. We want them to understand that the Olympic celebration goes far beyond the ideological biases of a few artists,” the bishops stressed.
They said that the values disseminated by sport and the Olympic movement must contribute to the “need for unity and fraternity that our world so desperately needs, while respecting everyone’s convictions, around the sport that brings us together.”
What shocked me most is that the freedom of spirit and tone claimed by those who set this up shouldn’t be directed against others … You can make fun of your own ideas, laugh at yourself, why not. But to mock the faith and religion of others in this way … is very shocking
Bishop Gobilliard
Bishop Emmanuel Gobilliard of Digne, the special representative of the Holy See for the 2024 Paris Olympics, said that he “did not watch the whole opening ceremony,” as he was praying. “It is my priority as a priest,” he said, adding he saw part of the ceremony and “found it very beautiful with the athletes [and] the Olympic flame.”
However Bishop Gobilliard said that on the morning following the ceremony, when he saw the images of the controversial scene massively shared on social media, he was “deeply hurt.”
The bishop said, “What shocked me most is that the freedom of spirit and tone claimed by those who set this up shouldn’t be directed against others … You can make fun of your own ideas, laugh at yourself, why not. But to mock the faith and religion of others in this way … is very shocking. That was my first reaction.”
He stressed that the Olympic Games are the last place to create such divisions.
Bishop Gobilliard said, “It is contrary to the Olympic Charter, to the dimension of unity that is present in its values, to the idea of bringing everyone together, without political and religious demonstrations. Why exclude believers and Christians? It was the last place to do that. We were to respect the spirit of the Olympic Charter. We are out of it now.”
The parody of the Last Supper was not the only ambiguous symbol at the opening ceremony. What also stirred controversy was a horsewoman dressed in armor, perched on a metal horse and galloping down the Seine with the Olympic flag— a scene which some recognised as St. Joan of Arc
One the opening points of the Olympic Charter says, “The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.”
The parody of the Last Supper was not the only ambiguous symbol at the opening ceremony. What also stirred controversy was a horsewoman dressed in armor, perched on a metal horse and galloping down the Seine with the Olympic flag— a scene which some recognised as St. Joan of Arc, the holy warrior who fought the English in the 15th century. However, the organisers, claimed it represented Sequana, the Celtic divinity who inhabited the Seine, and a symbol of resistance. Another controversial scene depicted a singer impersonating the decapitated body of Queen Marie Antoinette.
Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, went on social media to express outrage over what he saw at the opening ceremony. He said that after coming back home from the National Eucharistic Congress, he saw “this gross mockery of the Last Supper.”
Bishop Barron said that France, called the eldest daughter of the Church, and Paris, the city of saints, “felt evidently … the right thing to do is to mock this very central moment in Christianity where Jesus in his Last Supper gives his body and blood in anticipation of the cross.”
Bishop Barron asked, “Would they ever dare mock Islam in a similar way?” adding, “We all know the answer to that.”
This is not acceptable. Yet again, the word ‘inclusive’ is used to justify behaviour that is overtly exclusive. Such mockery is a deliberate attack on the person of Jesus Christ and a direct challenge to the faith that underpins, and lies at the heart of, Western society,
Voice for Justice UK and She leads UK
Politicians were also disgusted by the scene, with Catholic French member of European Parliament, Marion Maréchale, going on X to say: “To all the Christians of the world who are watching” the Paris ceremony and “felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation.”
United Kingdom’s Christian groups, Voice for Justice UK and She leads UK, united in a July 27 call for an immediate apology.
“This is not acceptable. Yet again, the word ‘inclusive’ is used to justify behaviour that is overtly exclusive. Such mockery is a deliberate attack on the person of Jesus Christ and a direct challenge to the faith that underpins, and lies at the heart of, Western society,” their joint statement said.
One scene of the ceremony, however, drew unanimous praise: the surprise concert by Céline Dion. Overcoming her illness, stiff person syndrome, she paid tribute to the French singer Edith Piaf, who died in 1963, by performing “Hymne à l’amour” from the second floor of the Eiffel Tower.
“We are now going to live the Olympic Games with enthusiasm despite all this!” Bishop Gobilliard, referring to the controversial scene. It “could have been a beautiful evening of unity, fraternity and communion between us,” the bishop said, adding that one “scene spoiled it all.”
The skies of Paris were illuminated by the Olympic cauldron that made a first flight at the Paris Games on July 26. It is attached to a balloon and will fly more than 197 feet above the Tuileries Gardens from sunset each evening until 2.00am. Organisers say it is the first Olympic flame in history to be lit without the use of fossil fuels.
