CNA Staff, Jul 27, 2024 / 01:17 am
A drag-queen-led parody of the Last Supper featured during Friday’s opening ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics has sparked a wave of incensed reactions and denunciations.
In a statement released Saturday, the French Bishops’ Conference criticized the “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we deeply deplore.”
“We thank the members of other religious denominations who have expressed their solidarity. This morning, we think of all Christians on all continents who have been hurt by the outrage and provocation of certain scenes,” the French bishops said.
One of the best-known prelates of the Catholic Church in the United States, Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, called on Catholics to “make their voices heard” in response to what he called “the gross mockery of the Last Supper.”
In a post on X, Barron said the blasphemous act was emblematic of a “deeply secularist postmodern society” that identifies Christianity as its enemy.
Meanwhile, in reparation for the blasphemy, Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin, immediately called on all Catholics to “fast and pray, renew our devotion to the Eucharist, the Sacred Heart, and the Virgin Mary.”
“May Jesus be adored and loved in every tabernacle throughout the world,” Hying added in a post on X in which he thanked the Lord for the Eucharist, the Last Supper, and his “love for us.”
Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, was also quick to share his reaction, stating: “My vocabulary is not varied enough to find a word for the feeling in the pit of my stomach.” He also asserted that people of Christian faith “deserve more respect.”
Flores’ sentiments were also echoed by non-Christians.
“Even as a Jew, I am infuriated by this outrageous insult to Jesus and Christianity,” Eli David said. He panned the opening ceremonies as reflecting a Europe that is “culturally dying.”
The world’s materially richest man, Elon Musk, also called the spectacle “extremely disrespectful to Christians.”
For his part, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Catholic, responded to what he called the Olympic “freak show” by quoting Jude 1:18: “In the last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires.”
This story was updated July 27, 2024, to include the French bishops’ reaction.
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