In detail, the controversial show began with a scene of people, including men in women’s clothing, gathering around a table, bringing to mind the painting “The Last Supper” of Christ with his disciples.
The Chaldean Church in Iraq considered in an official statement issued on Sunday evening that “what happened at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics is shameful and a mockery of the Christian religion, and hurts the faith and feelings of more than two and a half billion Christians around the world.”
The church added in its statement that “the principles of the Olympic Games aim to bring people together in love, respect and cooperation, not in wounding and division.”
She pointed out that Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako “stands with the Church in France and its Council of Bishops in their condemnation of the scenes that included veiled mockery and ridicule of the Christian religion.”
In turn, the Archbishop of the Diocese of Mosul and its Dependencies for Syriac Catholics, Bishop Mar Benedictus Younan Hanno, called on his parishioners to fast on Monday in protest.
“We have nothing to do but fast and pray until God forgives this great insult, which is not only an insult to religion but to humanity,” he told Agence France-Presse.
He added, “We were surprised by this offensive behaviour towards religious symbols coming from France, the country of secularism and humanity, a country that respects all nationalities and all religions.”
But the artistic director of the Olympic opening ceremony, Thomas Joly, denied on Sunday that the show was “inspired” by the Last Supper.
“The intention was never to disparage any religious group,” organizing committee spokeswoman Anne DeKean told reporters on Sunday. “If people were offended, we are truly sorry.”
The opening ceremony of the Olympics was held last Friday, and witnessed a number of controversial scenes, such as the embodiment of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper by a group of transgender artists, as well as the singer Philippe Catrin, who appeared naked and embodied the Greek god Dionysus in the same scene of “The Last Supper.”
For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that some of the performances of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris were disgusting.
It became known on Sunday that the video showing the main moments of the opening ceremony has disappeared from the International Olympic Committee website and the organization’s YouTube channel.
Source: Iraqi media
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2024-08-01 06:39:01
