The scene portrayed Jesus Christ and his apostles sharing a last meal before the crucifixion, featuring drag queens, a transgender model and a naked singer made up as the Greek god of wine, Dionysus.

Leaders of the Catholic Church and other denominations criticised this controversial depiction of “The Last Supper”. The French Bishops’ Conference stated that the “wonderful moments of beauty, joy, rich emotions” were ruined: “This ceremony unfortunately included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we deeply regret. We think of all Christians across the continents who were hurt by the excesses and provocation of certain scenes.”

Christian organisations in the UK – such as Reverend Lynda Rose of Voice for Justice UK and Helena Croft of Street Light UK – have demanded an apology from the organisers. They called the portrayal of the Last Supper “obscene” and “an open expression of contempt for Christianity”.

Reverend Rose, CEO of Voice for Justice UK, stated: “Christianity has been directly and deliberately targeted. The cultural appropriation of men impersonating women is already grossly offensive and insulting to women, but the deliberate mockery of Christ takes this abuse to new depths. The Olympic Games opening ceremony wasn’t a celebration of sport, but of corruption, with ‘inclusivity’ revealed in all its glory as a new religion.”

Helena Croft joined them in expressing her disappointment: “Would they have dared insult Islam like this? Of course not. The hyper-sexualisation that seems to be a hallmark of trans-activism has no place in sport. The attack on Christianity has no place in sport.”

Archbishop Charles Scicluna—the highest-ranking Catholic official in Malta and an official for the Vatican’s doctrinal office—complained to France’s ambassador in Malta about the “gratuitous insult. I would like to express my distress and great disappointment at the insult to us Christians during the opening ceremony … when a group of drag artists parodied the Last Supper of Jesus.”

A few columnists stated that this incident is a result of the turbocharged social media of the 21st century. France prides itself on a long and rich Catholic heritage. However, secularism and anti-clericalism are also strong in the country. Many people consider blasphemy as an essential element of freedom of speech.

According to Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the scene, the intention has never been to insult religion: “We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that.”

Source: https://www.christiantoday.com/