THE ALLEGED RELIGIOUS MOCKERY IN 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY

The Paris Olympics’ organisers apologised profusely on Sunday for any offence their audacious and eccentric opening ceremony may have caused, but they insisted that they had “never intended to show disrespect to any religious group.”

Several French bishops and Catholic organisations have denounced the march on Friday, which was directed by theatrical director Thomas Jolly, for what they saw to be “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity.”

A sequence that featured dancers, drag queens, and a DJ in positions reminiscent of the Last Supper—the last dinner that Jesus had with his apostles—has drawn criticism.

Speaking with reporters on Sunday, Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps stated, “Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group.” She continued, “Of course, we are really, really sorry if anyone has taken offence.”

Jolly refuted claims that the Last Supper served as inspiration for his nearly four-hour show, which was set beside the Seine River in pouring rain.

The spectacle, which aimed to encourage acceptance of many sexual and gender identities, also included French actor Philippe Katerine as the Greek god of wine and pleasure Dionysus, who showed up nearly nude and painted blue.

The plan was to throw a large-scale pagan celebration dedicated to the gods of Olympus, Jolly revealed to the BFM channel on Sunday. “There is never any intention to make fun of or disparage somebody in my work.

Along with affirming our Republican ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity, I wanted the ceremony to bring people together and promote reconciliation,” he continued.

One of the ceremony’s other memorable moments was when Marie-Antoinette, the French queen, emerged in a window of the Conciergerie, the building where she was imprisoned following the French Revolution of 1789, bearing a bloody, severed head and prepared for execution. Afterwards, she and her husband Louis XVI were executed by guillotine.

Jolly went on,

“We certainly weren’t glorifying this instrument of death, the guillotine.”

Descamps stated that a Harris study, commissioned by Paris 2024, revealed a resoundingly positive response to the opening ceremony among French citizens.