ROME — The Vatican said this weekend it was “saddened” by the drag queen parody of the Last Supper on display during the July 26 opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, after critics complained loudly over the Vatican’s prolonged silence on the matter.
“The Holy See is saddened by some scenes of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices that have been raised in recent days to deplore the offense done to many Christians and believers of other religions,” it said in a statement.
“In a prestigious event where the whole world comes together around common values, there should be no allusions that ridicule the religious convictions of many people,” the statement said.
“Freedom of expression, which is obviously not called into question, finds its limit in respect for others,” it said.
The statement followed on the heels of more than a week of outcry from Church and civic leaders deploring the event, which restaged the iconic image of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci with a lesbian woman in the place of Jesus and a number of cross-dressing men in lieu of the apostles.
While organizers attempted to deflect criticism by insisting that the exhibition was meant to evoke the Greek Feast of Dionysus rather than the Last Supper, several of the performers declared that producer Thomas Jolly had made it clear from the start that the scene was created to imitate the Last Supper.
The French bishops were among the first to condemn the anti-Christian parody, saying they deeply deplored the “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity.”
The bishops voiced their solidarity with “Christians on all continents who have been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation” of the event.
European Parliament member Marion Marechal, a French politician, underscored on social media that the repugnant scene was the product of France’s far-left minority, not of the French people.
“To all the Christians of the world who are watching the #Paris2024 ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation,” Marechal posted on X, along with the hashtag “#notinmyname.”
Bishop François Touvet, president of the Communication Council of the Bishops’ Conference, offered a separate protest “against this scandalous and serious insult to Christians around the world.”
Many Christians found the Vatican’s belated statement tepid and insufficient, more a reluctant acquiescence to complaints than an expression of Christian leadership.
“This is about as reluctant and halfhearted as it gets — not to mention way overdue,” wrote Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid in a media post that seemed to sum up much public sentiment surrounding the Vatican’s response.
Thomas D. Williams is the author of The Coming Christian Persecution: Why Things Are Getting Worse and How to Prepare for What Is to Come.