More than a week after the Olympics launched a wave of disgust among Christians around the world, the Vatican has issued a statement criticizing the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Games.
The July 26 ceremony featured a drag queen-bedecked segment that mocked the iconic “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. The event also included Satanic imagery and a pale horseman of the Apocalypse riding through Paris.
“The Holy See was saddened by certain scenes during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and can only join the voices that have been raised in recent days to deplore the offense caused to many Christians and believers of other religions,” the Vatican statement said, according to Vatican News.
So, the Woke left has destroyed the Olympics.
Is there a single great institution the progressive left hasn’t hijacked and turned into a train wreck? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/s0RoeftGtl
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) August 3, 2024
“At a prestigious event where the whole world comes together to share common values, there should be no allusions ridiculing the religious convictions of many people,” the statement continued.
“Freedom of expression, which is obviously not called into question, finds its limit in respect for others,” the statement said, according to Newsweek.
After the segment was roundly attacked for making fun of Christians, Olympic officials tried to suggest that “The Last Supper” was not the inspiration for the drag queen event.
However, a statement issued before worldwide wrath descended on the Games told the real story, according to The Wrap.
“Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting.”
Galatians 6:7-8 pic.twitter.com/bhCHoO1HXk
— Harrison Butker (@buttkicker7) July 26, 2024
“For the ‘Festivities’ segment, Thomas Jolly took inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting to create the setting,” the statement said.
“Clearly, there was never an intention to show disrespect towards any religious group or belief … [Jolly] is not the first artist to make a reference to what is a world-famous work of art. From Andy Warhol to ‘The Simpsons,’ many have done it before him,” the statement continued.
Last week, a global alliance of cardinals and bishops called upon the International Olympic Committee to “repudiate” and “apologize” for the “intentionally hateful mockery,” according to the Catholic News Agency.
“With shock, the world watched as the Summer Olympics in Paris opened with a grotesque and blasphemous depiction of the Last Supper,” the Catholic leaders wrote in an open letter to the IOC.
“It is hard to understand how the faith of over 2 billion people can be so casually and intentionally blasphemed,” the letter said.
The mockery of Christians during the Olympics opening ceremony is a symbol of cultural decline.
Elites in Western Europe have rejected the values that made their countries great. We are fighting that same battle here in the United States—are we going to be rooted in truth?… pic.twitter.com/sA047KUsXd
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) July 29, 2024
Are you boycotting the Olympics?
“While it is hard to believe that such an intentionally hateful mockery of any other religion would be displayed on the world stage, this despicable action nonetheless threatens people of all faiths and of none, as it opens the door to those with power doing whatever they wish to people they do not like,” the letter continued.
“The Last Supper was the meal that Jesus of Nazareth shared with his closest friends the night before he died for them, and for us. We pray that those who seek to harm others with their power, and those harmed, will imitate his self-sacrificial love, so that peace, decency and mutual respect may be restored in the world.”
