_{Photo: Controversial Last Supper scene at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony}

by Kristen Ku

BELIZE CITY, Wed. July 31, 2024

The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics was, as in previous Olympics, a grand spectacle, watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. This year, the four-hour ceremony included a parade via boats down the Seine River.

The organizers, however, also decided to incorporate a controversial scene featuring drag performers reenacting Leonardo de Vinci’s famous painting, “The Last Supper.”

The scene showed drag artists, each dressed as a different apostle, including French singer Philippe Katerine portraying the Greek god Dionysus. They re-enacted the iconic table of the Last Supper, complete with symbolic gestures and modernized costumes.

According to the organizers, the ceremony aimed to challenge societal norms and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community’s contribution to the arts and culture. “We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that. In France, we have freedom of creation and artistic freedom. We are lucky in France to live in a free country. I didn’t have any specific messages that I wanted to deliver. In France, we are a republic, we have the right to love whom we want, we have the right not to be worshippers, we have a lot of rights in France, and this is what I wanted to convey,” the artistic director of the opening ceremony, Thomas Jolly, said.

While many applauded the scene, the Catholic Church of Belize, along with other religious groups, reacted strongly to the depiction. The French Catholic Church’s conference of Bishops shared their consternation, stating, “Our thoughts are with all the Christians from all continents who were hurt by the outrage and provocation of certain scenes.”

Bishop Emmanuel Gobillard, a spokesperson representing the Holy See for the 2024 Paris Olympics, stated, “The fact that our religion should be mocked is usual, and we are used to blasphemy in France; but the context isn’t the same. In an event that brings together all or part of the population, I found this staging hurtful and out of place.”

The Paris 2024 Olympics Committee has since issued an apology, emphasizing that their intention was never to offend anyone. “We really did try to celebrate community tolerance. Looking at the results of the polls that we shared, we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are, of course, really, really sorry,” Anne Descamps, a spokesperson for the Committee said.