The French Bishops’ Conference has criticized the organizers of the Olympic Games for a performance during the opening ceremony that they say mocked Christianity. The organizers have defended the performance, saying it reflects their values.
The opening ceremony, which took place in Paris on Friday, featured a performance that depicted the Last Supper with a group of drag queens, homosexuals, and transsexuals dressed as Jesus and his apostles. A man dressed as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and festivity, emerged from a serving dish. During the performance, a dancer’s exposed testicles could be seen.
In a statement, the Bishops’ Conference said, “This ceremony unfortunately included scenes in which Christianity was mocked and ridiculed, which we deeply regret.” They also thanked members of other religious denominations for their support and expressed their concern for Christians worldwide who were offended by the performance.
Actual opening ceremony of the Olympics.
This isn’t parody.
RIP Olympics.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok)
The ceremony has been condemned by Christians and conservatives around the world. Bishop Robert Barron of Minnesota called the performance a “gross mockery of the Last Supper,” and Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said that “opening the Olympics by insulting billions of Christians across the world was a really bad start” for France.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, described the spectacle as “extremely disrespectful to Christians,” while tech entrepreneur Dr. Eli David said he was “infuriated by this outrageous insult to Jesus and Christianity,” even as a Jew.
Olympic organizers have defended the opening show. “We imagined a ceremony to show our values and our principles so we gave a very committed message,” said Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet. “The idea was to really trigger a reflection. We wanted to have a message as strong as possible.”
“Our idea was inclusion,” added Thomas Jolly, the ceremony’s artistic director. “We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everybody.”