The parody drag queen of the Last Supper, at the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 27, sparked a wave of indignation around the world as well as the announcement by C Spire, a mobile phone company in the United States, which decided to withdraw its advertising of the olympics.
“We are shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. “C Spire will withdraw its advertising from the Olympic Games,” the Mississippi-based company said in its X account on July 27a publication that
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It has, until the publication of this news, more than 9.4 million views.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said in X to be “proud” of the company’s decision and stressed that “God will not be mocked. “C Spire has drawn a common sense and appropriate line.”
More than 325,000 signatures demand a formal apology
More than 325,00 signatures have been gathered in two campaigns, one from the platform CitizenGo, with more than 191,000; and another of the Christian Lawyers Foundation from Spain, with more than 134,000; to request a formal apology from the organizers of the Olympic Games for the parody of the Last Supper.
El Arzobispo de Malta y Adjunto Secretario del Dicasterio para la Doctrina de la Fe, Mons. Charles Scicluna, indicated in X who has written to the French ambassador in Malta to express the “bizarre and disappointment of many Christians at the gratuitous insult during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games” and encouraged others to do the same.
“Clearly there was never any intention to disrespect any religious group. (The inauguration) sought to celebrate community tolerance. We believe that that intention has been fulfilled. If anyone was offended, we are very sorry,” said Anne Descamps, spokesperson for Paris 2024, at a press conference on July 28, according to the agency. Reuters.
Bishop Robert Barron, Bishop of Winona-Rochester (United States), who had already expressed his rejection of the parody of the Last Supper, recalled that same day that “this is what bothers me that they continue to make fun of Christianity. What would happen if, in our culture, people no longer hear the story of the Prodigal Son, of the Good Samaritan, that they no longer see the Last Supper for what it is, that they no longer see Christ Crucified?”
“What would happen if those things disappeared from existence? “I think the culture will suffer enormously because of that,” the prelate lamented in an interview with Fox News.
Muslim religious leader joins the outrage
This July 30, Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, noted that “respect for #Jesus Christ” is “an indisputable and definitive matter for Muslims.”
“We condemn these insults directed at the holy figures of divine religions, including Jesus Christ,” he added in his count of.
Parody against the Last Supper in Paris 2024: opportunity for evangelization and forgiveness
Mons. Demetrio Fernández, Bishop of Córdoba (Spain), noted in his homily for July 29 that with the parody of the Last Supper, and with it the Eucharist, “an attempt is made to offend Christians, Jesus, who has left us in this sacrament the essential part of his life.”
“These blasphemies are very important, but we have to show the capacity of Jesus Christ and his Church to forgive,” the prelate highlighted.
“In addition, this becomes an opportunity for evangelization that no one else can give, only the Christian is capable of forgiving even knowing the pain that this offense produces,” highlighted the Spanish bishop.
“The forgiveness of Jesus Christ for each of us is greater than our offenses and the forgiveness of Christians is capable of being transmitted even when one feels deeply hurt,” stressed Mons. Fernández.
Walter Sanchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.