Fantastic and brilliant. Oh kitsch and blasphemous. Never has an Olympic opening ceremony been so talked about, in the aftermath, as that of the 2024 Olympics. A hymn to love that was vibrant and inclusive in its intentions, but that divided the world. Paris used self-irony and chose to go beyond every stereotype.
Even too far, according to the Church of France on one side and the current president of the EU, Viktor Orban on the other. But not only Emmanuel Macron, convinced that the “French are proud of the spectacle of the ceremony”, but also the New York Times are talking about the “creative genius” of the creator Thomas Jolly. Because the four hours of ‘en plein air’ show had the same effect as the Impressionists in the 19th century: lots of applause, and just as much scandal. While waiting for definitive figures, the presumed data of the world audience is close to a billion viewers. Everyone has seen France joke about its rats in the cellars, about Marie Antoinette with her head torn off under her arm, about the Band of the Republic playing and dancing in front of Napoleon’s tomb, the Franco-Malian pop of Aya Nakamura. “We’ve never had so much fun,” said the director of the musicians with the plume, the pride of France and its military tradition.
The Episcopal Conference of France condemned the “scenes that mock and make fun of Christianity” “The opening ceremony proposed by the Organizing Committee offered the entire world last night wonderful moments of beauty, joy, rich in emotion and universally appreciated” the bishops wrote in a statement, adding however that “Unfortunately, we deeply deplore the scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity.”
If the scenes are not cited precisely, the Last Supper with drag queens seems to be in the bishops’ sights. “We think of all the Christians on all continents who felt hurt – the document continues – by the excesses and provocation of some scenes. We hope that they understand that the Olympic celebration goes far beyond the ideological biases of some artists”. The bishops thank “the members of other religious confessions who have expressed their solidarity with us”.
“Sport – the prelates write – is a wonderful human activity, which deeply gladdens the hearts of athletes and spectators”, “let’s make way now for competitions, which bring truth, consolation and joy to all”. If the scenes are not cited precisely, the Last Supper with the drag queens seems to be in the bishops’ sights. “We think of all the Christians on all continents who felt hurt – the document continues – by the excesses and provocation of some scenes. We hope that they understand that the Olympic celebration goes far beyond the ideological biases of some artists”. The bishops thank “the members of other religious confessions who have expressed their solidarity with us”.
Bishop of San Francisco: ‘Christian religion blasphemed’
On the same wavelength is the bishop of San Francisco, Salvatore J. Cordileone.
“Secular fundamentalism has now infiltrated the Olympics, even blaspheming the religion of over a billion people. Would they do the same to any other religion? I ask all of us to pray for a restoration of good will and respect.” With these words in a post on X, the Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore J. Cordileone, condemns certain contents of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. Archbishop Cordileone, a conservative theologian and one of the bishops who supported the celebration of the Latin Mass according to the old rite, is known for his opposition to same-sex marriage and adoptions by homosexual couples.
The creator of the ceremony: ‘I didn’t want to be subversive, in France you have the right to love whoever you want’
“I didn’t want to be subversive, or shock anyone. Simply, in France we have the right to love each other, as we want and with whom we want.” Thomas Jolly, icreator of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, defends his choices from the criticism of those who have pointed the finger at the space for LGBTQ+ rights. “We have the right to believe or not to believe. Last night, we simply staged republican ideas, of benevolence and inclusion,” he added in his assessment to the press.
The Italian bishops’ newspaper: ‘Global event transformed into a gay pride’
“If they wanted to amaze us with their proverbial grandeur, well the organizers, directors, choreographers, dwarfs and dancers of the Paris 2024 opening ceremony succeeded, but not in a big way at all.” The Catholic daily Avvenire wrote this online in a commentary on the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, in which “like a dish of nouvel cousine the evening’s chefs put everything in the pot: pop, rock, opera. And then they shook the ingredients with an all too abundant pinch of essential ‘fluidism'”. According to the Italian bishops’ daily newspaper, “we’ve gone heavy on makeup and hair to redesign a humanity that now seems to make sense only if it transgresses. Don’t take us for moralistic bigots, but what’s the point of having to live every single global event, especially a sporting one, as if it were a Gay Pride? Why must the Olympic Village be exchanged at all costs for the new residence of the old dear Village People? (for millennials, those of the timeless song YMCA). Why this obsessive need to wave the banner of ‘diversity’ at all costs and hang medals around our necks that become inelegant bisexual necklaces to be shown to the world” https://gazzettadelsud.it/articoli/mondo/2024/07/27/parigi-le-olimpiadi-e-lultima-cena-queer-i-vescovi-si-scagliano-contro-la-derisione-del-cristianesimo-dcdc7b1a-dfa4-4057-9a31-28a04ae39452/. “And then – he continues – also mock The Last Supper (poor Leonardo who here at the Clos Lucè Castle had already died in the non-Olympic year 1519) with an apostolate of drag queens that in comparison make the dancers of the Moulin Rouge pass for schoolgirls: a gratuitous and tasteless offense obviously not only to art, but also and above all to the religious sensibility of many, moreover in clear contrast with that vaunted (but one-way) desire to protect any belief, preference and orientation”. On the controversial parody of the Last Supper, Avvenire also reports in the article the statement of condemnation issued by the French Episcopal Conference.