- The Last Supper painting with contemporary ideological figures is disrespectful – Bishop Badejo
- SIGNIS Africa rallies members to condemn insulting depiction of the Last Supper
Olympic opening ceremonies are flashy events with unforgettable experiences laced with shared experiences, excitements, legacies and powerful emotions that know no bounds. The every-four- year unique event that has over the decades functioned as a great unifier of nations has suddenly transformed into a dividing factor. The extravagant opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics infuriated many – the Catholic Church, other Christian groups and millions of people.
The French Bishops’ Conference said the festivities “included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity,” as they expressed fury about the apparent depiction of the ‘Last Supper’ featuring drag performers. Several prelates across the globe, including Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo, Bishop of Oyo Diocese, Nigeria and President of the Pan African Episcopal Commission for Social Communications (CEPACS), as well as millions across the globe have described the unprecedented display of drag queen parody of Last Supper as shocking, disrespectful and insulting.
The four-hour spectacle on July 26 commenced with a parade of athletes down the Seine River, accompanied by music and dancing scenes on top French monuments. Notre Dame Cathedral, still under construction prior to its December 8 opening, was also featured with an extensive dance segment paying tribute to the construction workers who are rebuilding the icon of Paris following a 2019 fire. Dancers appeared to do aerial work on the scaffolding. The bells of the cathedral rang for the first time since the 2019 fire that nearly destroyed the building.
According to the American magazine’s account, as the show progressed, television cameras showed drag queens, one of whom wore a crown, seated at a table. The shape of the crown brought to mind a monstrance. The scene was immediately interpreted as a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic wall painting in Milan’s Dominican convent of the Last Supper. The drag queen table scene was later complemented with a nude singer appearing in the middle of a fruit basket, to represent Dionysus, ancient Greece’s God of wine, with the Olympic Games official profile on X, formerly Twitter saying the depiction made us “aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.” The French Bishops’ Conference issued a statement July 27, deploring the scenes at the opening of the Olympic Games.
While the ceremony was a “marvelous display of beauty and joy, rich in emotion and universally acclaimed,” they said, it “unfortunately included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity, which we deeply regret.” “We would like to thank the members of other religious denominations who have expressed their solidarity with us,” the French bishops wrote. “We are thinking of all the Christians on every continent who have been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of certain scenes. We want them to understand that the Olympic celebration goes far beyond the ideological biases of a few artists,” the bishops stressed.
For the bishops, the values disseminated by sport and Olympism must contribute to the “need for unity and fraternity that our world so desperately needs, while respecting everyone’s convictions, around the sport that brings us together.” Bishop Emmanuel Gobilliard of Digne, the designated representative of the Holy See for the 2024 Paris Olympics, said that he “did not watch the whole opening ceremony,” as he was praying. “It is my priority as a priest,” Bishop Digne explained, adding he saw part of the ceremony and “found it very beautiful with the athletes (and) the Olympic flame.”
He however, stated that he felt deeply hurt on the morning following the ceremony, when he saw the images of the controversial scene massively shared on social media. “What shocked me most is that the freedom of spirit and tone claimed by those who set this up shouldn’t be directed against others,” the Bishop said. “You can make fun of your own ideas, laugh at yourself, why not. But to mock the faith and religion of others in this way … is very shocking. That was my first reaction.” He further stressed that the Olympic Games are the last place to create such divisions.
“Why there?” Bishop Gobilliard asked. “It is contrary to the Olympic Charter, to the dimension of unity that is present in its values, to the idea of bringing everyone together, without political and religious demonstrations. Why exclude believers and Christians? It was the last place to do that. We were to respect the spirit of the Olympic Charter. We are out of it now.” The Olympic Charter is the codification of the fundamental principles of Olympism, and the rules and bylaws adopted by the International Olympic Committee. One of its opening points says, “The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.”
Bishop Gobilliard said that “all the Christians who watched it suffered this derision,” adding that “many Christian athletes suffered it, the IOC and its president, Thomas Bach. I don’t think he knew about it.” According to the America magazine reports, the parody of the Last Supper was not the only ambiguous symbol at the opening ceremony. What also stirred controversy was a horsewoman dressed in armour, perched on a metal horse and galloping down the Seine with the Olympic flag – a scene in which some recognised St. Joan of Arc, the holy warrior who fought the English in the 15th century. But according to the organisers, it represented Sequana, the Celtic divinity who inhabited the Seine, and a symbol of resistance. Another controversial scene depicted a singer impersonating the decapitated body of Queen Marie Antoinette. One week after “We all united around Our Eucharistic Lord” at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, the da Vinci masterpiece “Was depicted in heinous fashion, leaving us in such shock, sorrow and righteous anger that words cannot describe it,” said Bishop Andrew H.
Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, Chairman of the Board of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc. Bishop Emmanuel Badejo, President of the Pan African Episcopal Commission for Social Communications (CEPACS), was also disgusted by the scene. In his statement printed on SIGNIS Africa letterhead and made available to The Catholic Herald, the prelate said, “The religious depictions of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting with contemporary ideological figures that are clearly offensive to Christianity at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games 2024 in France is, to say the least, shocking and disrespectful.” The CEPACS President further described the incident as a “Perpetration of deliberate ongoing attempts in Europe and America to “repurpose” and cheapen Christian themes without regard for peace loving Christians who practice and profess their religion in peace.”
His statement backed by SIGNIS Africa, read in parts, “That this decadent caricature of one of the most cherished events of Christianity is publicised in France, a country with a rich and old Christian heritage, and at the Olympic games detracts from the status of the Olympics and belies all claims to enduring civility and respect for freedom of religion in the West. He enjoined Christians to exercise their right of outrage and boycott to the extent that the damage already caused can be mitigated, redressed and future occurrences prevented.
Bishop Badejo further charged governing bodies and organisations to take full responsibility for accommodating such insulting, tasteless art and expressions that can potentially cause further hurt and division in the already hurting and fractured world as he applauded everyone who rose to the occasion. “Huge thanks to all who correctly expressed outrage on the subject well ahead of this. Regardless of what we go through as Africans, we must never disrespect or thrash religious symbols and sentiments which touch people at their deepest levels of their being. To do this is to throw our humanising and spiritual values and ideals to the dogs. Africa must never follow the West down that obscure path,” the Nigerian prelate added.
Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Walter Ihejirika, President of SIGNIS Africa, tasked all his members to publicise the statement of Bishop Badejo across the continent as a way of registering their displeasure with the organisers of the Paris Olympics for the outrageous and insulting depiction of the Last Supper. SIGNIS Africa, the Continental Branch of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication threw its weight behind Bishop Badejo’s statement. The body of Catholic clergy, religious, laymen and women who are engaged in the work of media and communication wrote, “As professionals who apply their talents in the use of communication to promote cultural harmony, we are conscious of the fact that images can be deployed mischievously to promote cultural and religious disdain. “
It is in this regard that we totally align with the statement issued by His Excellency, Bishop Emmanuel Badejo, Bishop of Oyo, Nigeria and President of the Pan African Episcopal Commission for Social Communications, (CEPACS) with regard to the insulting depiction of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper.” But the opening ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, refuted all the allegations, insisting that the scene is not a reference at all to the Last Supper. He defended the concept behind it. According to him, rather, the performance is a nod to a pagan celebrating Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility, wine and revelry portrayed by French singer and actor Philippe Katerine. The organisers however apologised to everyone who was offended by the tableau that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”
