Organizing Committee Paris 2024 has apologized to Catholics and other Christian groups who were outraged by scenes at the opening ceremony that featured drag queens, transgender models and a singer dressed as the Greek god of wine and were reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper.”
The parody of a biblical scene, performed against the backdrop of the Seine, aimed to interpret Dionysus and raise awareness of “the absurdity of human violence,” organizers wrote in a statement.
The performance sparked outrage among Catholics, Christian groups and conservative politicians around the world, forcing the committee to apologize.
“Clearly there was no intention to show any disrespect to any religious group. [The opening ceremony] “We wanted to celebrate the generosity of the community,” Anne Deccan, a spokeswoman for Paris 2024, said at a press conference. “We believe this ambition has been achieved and we are truly sorry if anyone was offended.”
France is a country with strong Catholic traditions but also a long tradition of secularism and anticlericalism – blasphemy is legal and seen by many as a key pillar of freedom of speech – and supporters of the painting praised its message of inclusivity and tolerance.
The Catholic Church in France said it regretted the ceremony “containing scenes of mockery and ridicule for Christianity.”
Father Emmanuel Gobilliard, the French bishops’ representative to the Olympics, said some French athletes were suffering from sleep disorders as a result of the controversy.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Malta’s highest-ranking Catholic official and an official at the Vatican’s powerful doctrinal body, said he had contacted the French ambassador in Valletta to complain about the “unjustified insult.”
The Italian Bishops’ Conference said what should have been a celebration of French culture “took an unexpectedly negative turn and became a series of commonplace errors accompanied by banal and predictable ideological ideas.”
An article in the Italian Catholic daily newspaper Avenire wrote: “We hope you won’t think of us as moralistic bigots, but what is the point of having to experience any global event, even a sporting event, as if it were gay pride?”
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Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League party in Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government, described the scenes as “shabby.” “Opening the Olympics with an insult to billions of Christians around the world was a really bad start, dear French people,” he added.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke of a “moral vacuum in the West.”
Some commentators said the controversy was another example of the 21st century culture wars, fuelled by the 24-hour news cycle and social media.
Thomas Jolly: A spectacular opening ceremonysaid subversion of religion was not his intention. “We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity is about being together. We wanted to be inclusive of everyone. That’s it,” he said Saturday.
