Athletes from around the world are gearing up for the 2024 Summer Olympics that are being held in Paris this year. While the Games are often billed as a beacon of global unity, they have historically provoked the anger of various social, political, and cultural groups by humiliating human values which comes from the extreme relativism of their Western Organizers.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) routinely makes grandiose claims about its commitment to humanity. Looking over the Olympic Charter and the IOC’s guiding philosophy of “Olympism,” it’s hard not to be struck by the organization’s promises, however empty they may be. It states:
“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.”
Despite the goals stated by the IOC, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics insulted the moral and religious values of billions of people, particularly Christians which led to a wave of global criticism and disgust.
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics has drawn significant backlash for its depiction of Leonardo da Vinci's painting "The Last Supper" with a "drag queen" performance, which many view as disrespectful to religious beliefs.
During the ceremony on Friday, a live artistic tableau resembling Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" was presented, featuring a large table around which men dressed in women's clothing and exaggerated makeup were seated, alongside a transgender model.
The depiction of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" with homosexual connotations was a blatant insult to sacred values at the Paris Olympics.
These scenes “depict Jesus Christ in an offensive manner, disrespecting his honorable person and the high status of prophecy in a reckless barbaric way that does not respect the feelings of believers in religions and high human morals and values.
This shameful and bizarre impression on the world's largest sporting stage, the Olympics had a wide reflection on social media.
World leaders condemn Paris 2024 opening ceremony as 'Insult to Christians'
Political and religious leaders and Organizations all over the world harshly criticized the ceremony as an insult to the religions, especially Christianity.
Italy:
Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini branded this show insulting and "sleazy". "Opening the Olympics by insulting billions of Christians across the world was a really bad start," he wrote on X.
Hungary:
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has criticized the West following a controversial act during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony,saying "there is no morality" in the Western world.
"Westerners believe that nation-states no longer exist. They deny that there is a common culture and a public morality based on it.
"There is no morality, if you watched the Olympics opening yesterday, you saw this," Orban said in a speech in Tusvanyos in Transylvania.
Hungary’s ambassador to the Vatican, Eduard Habsburg, referenced historical events in his criticism, suggesting that the ceremony was akin to the beheading of Marie Antoinette, noting the insult to Christian traditions.
Spain:
Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, has launched a scathing attack against France over the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, deeming it “immoral.”
The Spanish league president wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “I am against the moment that represents ‘The Last Supper’ which was completely inappropriate, being trivial and unnecessary.”
He added, “This is unacceptable, disrespectful, and has a bad reputation.”
Tebas concluded, “Using the image of the Last Supper is an insult to Christians. Where is the respect for religious beliefs? You should respect the Olympics.”
Australia:
Wendy Francis, national director of politics for the Australian Christian Lobby, said the Games had “disgracefully besmirched” the last supper with “sexualised men pretending to be women parodying it”.
“Christians participating in the Games must feel absolutely betrayed by this crude display, ridiculing the greatest event in history – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper,” she said.
“France has betrayed its predominantly Catholic nation. Western culture is doomed, having lost its foundation and its moral compass.”
United States:
Several US and international lawmakers have condemned the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) criticized the ceremony on social media, calling it a "mockery" and an "insult" to Christians globally. Johnson denounced what he sees as an attack on faith and traditional values, invoking the Bible verse John 1:15: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Some Christian bishops also bemoaned the parody: Minnesota Bishop Robert Barron, a prominent U.S. Catholic leader, called it a “gross mockery” and emblematic of a “deeply secularist postmodern society,” while Wisconsin-based Bishop Donald Hying slammed it as “blasphemy,” and Texas-based Bishop Daniel Flores posted: “the agendas just use the athletes; they deserve more respect. So do people of Christian Faith.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also voiced her disapproval online, accusing the French Olympic Committee of attempting to remove videos of the ceremony under copyright claims. She argued that sharing these videos is a First Amendment right and criticized the ceremony’s depiction of Christian symbols.
Although not a lawmaker, Fox Nation host Piers Morgan also weighed in, expressing his dismay over the portrayal. He questioned whether a similar mockery of other religions would have been acceptable and criticized the decision as "appalling."
France:
The Catholic Church of France expressed its disapproval, stating on its X account: "Unfortunately, this ceremony contained scenes that mocked Christianity, which we deeply regret."
Middle East:
The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) condemned the mockery of Jesus Christ, stating: “With a lot of love mixed with astonishment and disapproval, we saw what happened during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in France, the mockery of the mystery of the mysteries in Christianity, and what is sacred to billions of people around the world.”
Egypt:
Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, condemned Sunday the “insulting scenes” of Jesus Christ during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris.
These scenes “depict Jesus Christ in an offensive manner, disrespecting his honorable person and the high status of prophecy in a reckless barbaric way that does not respect the feelings of believers in religions and high human morals and values,” Al-Azhar said in a statement.
It said the mockery “indicates complete ignorance of the concepts of freedom and human dignity, and this is a very worrying matter for the future of humanity.”
Malta:
Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, who also serves as an adjunct secretary of the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, has joined a growing chorus of protesters condemning a controversial segment of the Paris Olympics' opening ceremony that parodied Leonardo da Vinci's iconic 'Last Supper.'
The Catholic Church has deemed the reinterpretation of the biblical scene as deeply offensive.
Archbishop Scicluna expressed his dismay in a social media post on Saturday, revealing that he had communicated his distress to the French ambassador to Malta.
Organizers apologize for opening ceremony's Last Supper parody
Paris 2024 organizers apologized on Sunday to Catholics and other Christian groups.
The committee was forced to apologize after the performance caused outrage among Catholics, Christian groups and conservative politicians around the world.
Anne Descamps, a spokesperson for the Paris games, told reporters on Sunday there was "never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group".
All the critical comments regarding the Olympic ceremony reflect a broader critique of Western values and morality. The ceremony exemplifies a lack of morality in the West and the actions and decisions made by Western nations contradict the principles they claim to uphold.
In essence, the Paris opening ceremony highlights perceived double standards in Western policies and actions, particularly about justice and ethics on the global stage.
Compiled by Sahar Dadjoo