A dance troupe performing at the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics drew the ire of Christians around the world after they appeared to mock Jesus and the Last Supper.
The ceremony, held on Friday along the Seine River in the French capital, featured the traditional parade of nations. It was the first time in Olympic history the ceremony was held outside a stadium.
But the festivities, which featured singers Celine Dion and Lady Gaga, drew controversy when a group of 18 performers — including three “Drag Race France” queens — struck poses behind what looked like a long table with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
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At the center of the table was an ornately dressed dancer with a silver headdress that resembled a halo as depicted in famous Renaissance fresco of Jesus and his apostles by Leonardo da Vinci that was completed in 1498. The dancer smiled and made a heart shape with her hands before the dancers performed a choreographed routine.
“This is crazy. Opening your event by replacing Jesus and the disciples at the Last Supper with men in drag,” Clint Russel, the host of the Liberty Lockdown podcast, posted on X. “There are 2.4 billion Christians on earth and apparently the Olympics wanted to declare loudly to all of them, right out of the gate NOT WELCOME.”
The Last Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper is commemorated by Christians on Holy Thursday and provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist.
Paris 2024 organizers said the performance was an “interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus” to make the world “aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”
The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings. #Paris2024 #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/FBlQNNUmvV
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 26, 2024
The ceremony was viewed by a worldwide audience of millions. It served as the official start of the Summer Games, which will conclude on Aug. 11. The performance also comes less than a week after Notre Dame Cathedral reopened after a 2019 fire had destroyed the spire and much of its interior.
In a statement on Saturday, French bishops expressed regret over “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we deeply deplore.”
“We thank the members of other religious denominations who have expressed their solidarity,” the statement added. “This morning, we think of all Christians on all continents who have been hurt by the outrage and provocation of certain scenes. We hope they understand that the Olympic celebration extends far beyond the ideological preferences of some artists.”
Archbishop Charles Scicluna said he sent a message to the French ambassador of his native Malta, expressing “distress” and “great disappointment” at the “insult to us Christians during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics when a group of drag artists parodied the Last Supper of Jesus.”
Bishop Andrew Cozzens, chair of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, issued a letter calling on Catholics to respond with prayer and fasting. He said the Last Supper was “depicted in heinous fashion”
Several French politicians agreed that Olympic organizers and the group had mocked Christianity.
“Know that it is not France that is speaking,” said Marion Marechal, a French member of the European Parliament and granddaughter of the right-wing leader Jean Marie Le-Pen.
Marechal, a practicing Catholic, added said it had been done by “a minority of the [political] left ready for any provocation.”
Clemente Lisi is the executive editor of Religion Unplugged. He previously served as deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and a longtime reporter at The New York Post. Follow him on X @ClementeLisi.