The opening of the Olympic Games in Paris achieved its goal: to make a splash with a novel ceremony that used the centre of the French capital as its backdrop.

The Seine River running through the French capital saw the athletes parade in boats, while lights, performances and moving elements on the banks represented French values (including the famous liberté, egalité, fraternité). The rain-drenched event ended next to the Eiffel Tower with some of the top athletes in history carrying the Olympic torch to its final destination.

But it was a musical scene from the show that became the centre of commentary as the hours passed. On an elongated table reminiscent of Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting of ‘The Last Supper’ of Jesus Christ and his disciples, a famous DJ from the LGTBQI+ movement, wearing a silver crown and forming a heart with her hands, was surrounded by a dozen drag queens and an underage girl. Alongside them, a transgender model and the well-known singer Philippe Katerine, nearly naked, evoking the Greek god Dionysus.

The episode was applauded by some for showing the “diversity and inclusiveness” of a modern France, while others apologised on behalf of the French for an inappropriate parody of Christianity. The organisation said that no offence was intended (see end of this article).

Reactions from Christians in France

“A creative and joyful opening ceremony. I was nevertheless shocked by some of the ‘tableaux’”, said Erwan Cloarec, president of the National Council of Evangelicals of France (CNEF), the body representing most of the country’s evangelical churches and organisations.

“If the aim was fraternity and inclusion, why target and mock the faith of a few?”, he added.

Une cérémonie d’ouverture créative et joyeuse. Choqué néanmoins par certains « tableaux ».



Si l’objectif était la fraternité et l’inclusion, pourquoi cibler et moquer la foi de quelques-uns ?



Cela n’était pas nécessaire.

— Erwan CLOAREC (@PresidentCnef) July 28, 2024

The leader of the French Protestant Federation (FPF), Christian Krieger, also reflected on the controversy on social media. “All images are polysemic and can be read in different ways. There is a gap between the author’s intention and the way it is received”, he began.

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental right that we Protestants recognise without reservation. We do not condemn the right to blaspheme. However, we also affirm that despising others, harming others, can never be the very essence of free speech”.

The French Catholic leadership also expressed disappointment. The Bishops’ Conference said in a statement: “The ceremony offered the whole world wonderful moments of beauty and joy, but included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity, which we deeply deplore”.

“We think of all Christians on all continents who have been hurt by the excess and provocation of certain scenes. We want them to understand that the Olympic festival goes far beyond the ideological prejudices of a few artists”.

Evangelicals elsewhere in Europe

The four-hour opening ceremony of Paris 2024, watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world, also caused reactions from Christians in other European countries.

Gavin Calver, director of the Evangelical Alliance UK (EAUK), said after watching the ceremony live: “I hope that the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are a great success. However, it really was appalling to see Christianity so openly mocked in the opening ceremony with the unbelievably crass portrayal of the Last Supper. Utterly insensitive, unnecessary & offensive”

The general secretary of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance, X. Manuel Suárez, also expressed his disapproval. In an opinion piece in Protestante Digital, he writes: “Festivity and creativity have one goal: the clean enjoyment and dignification of people. Laughing at people’s deep convictions, mocking their highest feelings, humiliating their dignity is anything but creativity, festivity and freedom: it is disrespect, mediocrity and stupidity”.

After comparing the parody in Paris with the mockery of the Roman soldiers back in the first century, Suárez adds: “The truth is that Jesus died because he willingly gave himself up for us [...]. The reality is that the soldiers could not prevent Jesus from rising on the third day; nor will the creators of this Festivité be able to prevent Jesus from being alive today and with all honour, offering to all - including them - the dignity and the life that they have despised. But make no mistake: that same Jesus is the one who will judge without appeal every act of each one of us, and that includes the opening ceremony in Paris”.

“Subverting the sacred? 2,000 years too late”

Glen Scrivener, an Australian evangelist and apologist based in England, shared an image that read: ‘Subverting the sacred, 2000 years too late’.

The deepest sense in which "God cannot be mocked" is the literal one. You simply cannot plumb a deeper depth than God crucified. Everything since has been laughably tame and woefully out of date. pic.twitter.com/JygBeUSeFE

— Glen Scrivener (@glenscrivener) July 27, 2024

“The deepest sense in which ‘God cannot be mocked’ is the literal one”, he added. “You simply cannot plumb a deeper depth than God crucified. Everything since has been laughably tame and woefully out of date”.

Another evangelical of his generation, Hungarian church planter Attila Nyári, expressed a similar view on Facebook: “I am very surprised when Christians say that this crosses a line and that we cannot remain silent. I don’t know. In particular, Jesus even let himself be nailed to a cross and remained silent. Christianity prevails when it is not defended”.

“Of course, what we saw was sickening”, he added. “If someone is very sensitive to being hurt [referring to the LGTBQI community], but easily attacks other people, they are clearly not healthy. But why are we surprised that the world is sick? That’s precisely why a doctor is needed”.

Miikkaa Narinen, a Christian cultural analyst in Finland, pointed to the fact that in Europe it is much easier to mock Christianity than Islam or the LGBTQI movement itself. “Apparently, there are still artists who think that trying to make fun of Christianity is counter-cultural and original. Welcome to modern times, or even 1968, since when history hasn’t moved a single step forward”.

But he added: “If you read - and I recommend doing so every day - the events of Passion Week in the Gospels, you will notice that mockery is at the heart of the passion. God submits to supreme mockery with crowns of thorns and purple robes and finally submits naked to the shameful penalty of death”.

Justification and apologies from the organisers

For its part, the organisers of the Olympic Games reacted to the complaints with a statement in favour of “diversity”, arguing that “there was clearly no intention to show disrespect to any religious group”. A spokesperson added that most spectators enjoyed the ceremony and that “if there are people who have been offended, we are truly sorry”.

The artistic director of the ceremony, Thomas Jolly, said his inspiration for the controversial scene was not Jesus Christ and his disciples, but that “Dionysus comes to this table because he is the god of feasting (...), of wine, and father of Sequana, the goddess linked to the river (…) The idea was rather to have a big pagan festival connected to the gods of Olympus”.

In another interview after the controversy, he said: “My desire was not to be subversive, nor to mock or create shock”.

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