2024-07-28 20:57:20
The Catholic Church and some figures of the French far right They attacked the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, specifically some passages that they considered a “mockery” of Christianity. On the contrary, the celebration received an enthusiastic welcome from the left and members of Emmanuel Macron’s government.
In a statement on Saturday, the French Episcopal Conference He said that the ceremony offered “the whole world wonderful moments of beauty, joy, rich in emotions and universally welcomed,” But at the same time he “deeply” regretted that it included “scenes of mockery and ridicule of Christianity.”
The French bishops remind “all Christians on all continents who have felt hurt by the excessiveness and provocation of certain scenes,” and the message they want to convey to them is that “the Olympic celebration” must be “far above the prejudices of some artists.”
What upset the Church
Although no reference is made to a specific sequence, it is clear that they are referring to the one entitled “Festivity” and that it was an obvious parody of the Jesus Christ’s last supper with his apostles, in this case replaced by drag queens, a trans model and the almost naked singer Philippe Katerinewith some attributes of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and celebration, according to the EFE news agency.
Complaints have been much more explicit, direct and broad-based from the far right, which has taken advantage of the opportunity to launch accusations against the French president’s government for, they argue, promoting “woke” ideology.
The far right unites against the Olympic Games
The deputy Laure Lavalettefrom the party of Marine Le Pen On his X account, he directly reproached Macron for the parody of the last supper that was done with the drag queen act, putting a photo of that sequence in parallel with another of the well-known fresco by Leonardo da Vinci on that subject: “Was it really necessary?”
On the other hand, opinions have been totally opposed among leaders of the left, such as the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faurewho welcomed the fact that the ceremony served to highlight the “values of liberty, equality and fraternity, to which have been added sisterhood, parity and inclusion.”
The reactions of members of the Government, such as the Minister for Equality, have also been very complimentary. Aurore Bergéwhich wanted to highlight the allusions to “our history, our struggles, our energy, our creativity, our diversity, our words, our artists, our athletes, our openness to the world.”
What the organizers of the ceremony said
The show’s organizers have defended themselves against criticism by claiming that “They were not meant to be subversive, but to show the diversity of France.”
The President of the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguethas stated that it was “a ceremony to show our values and principles, with Strong messages of sisterhood, of love“.
“The idea,” Estanguet added, “was to send out the strongest possible message. We take the international community into account, but it was a French ceremony in Paris. We have freedom of expression in France and we want to protect it“.
Sunni institution condemns Paris 2024’s ‘Last Supper’ for ‘promoting homosexuality’
Another religious institution, in this case the Egyptian one Al Azhar -the main reference of the Sunni Islamic world-, condemned this Sunday “The scenes of disrespect for Christ” during the opening of the Olympic Games last Friday in Pariswhich he considered a form of “promote homosexuality and transsexuality.”
“Disrespecting Jesus Christ or any of his fellow prophets It is an act of extremism and reckless barbarism“Al Azhar said in a statement, warning of “the danger of exploiting world events to normalize disrespect for religion and promote homosexuality and transsexuality“.
He also condemned these scenes that “They portray Jesus Christ in an offensive image” “which insults believers in religions and betrays morality,” and rejected “any attempt to disrespect any of God’s prophets,” according to a statement.
“Prophets, messengers are the best of God’s creation. He chose them to bring the message of goodness to the worlds,” Al Azhar said, recalling that nearly two billion Muslims believe that Jesus is the Messenger of God, given that Sunni Islam considers Jesus Christ as one of its prophets. Therefore, “Muslims believe that disrespecting Jesus or any other prophet is a sin and a shame.“, they add.
Al Azhar also warned “of the danger of exploiting global opportunities to normalize the abuse of religion” and “promote destructive and shameful social diseases, such as homosexuality and transsexuality.”
This representation of Jesus Christ is intended to “impose an animal lifestyle that contradicts healthy human nature, and thus forcibly normalize it in societies by all possible and impossible means and methods.”