Why the opening ceremony sparked controversy over the Last Supper

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games was considered dazzling… and sometimes shocking. On Saturday, July 17, the day after the event, the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) deplored “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity” in a statement co-signed by Holy Games, the ecclesiastical program dedicated to supporting the Games. In this message, the Catholic Church refers to a scene from the ceremony that brings together a group of artists, including several drag queens, along a table, in a burlesque atmosphere. The image may be reminiscent of The Lord’s Supper, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, depicting Jesus’ last meal with his apostles.

In their statement, the bishops first considered that the ceremony had offered “the whole world wonderful moments of beauty, joy, rich in emotion and universally acclaimed.” But they also judged that this sequence of the celebration had leaned in favor of “the ideological biases of some artists.” “We think of all the Christians on all continents who have been hurt by the excess and provocation of certain scenes,” added the CEF. Seeking to temporize, it concluded: “let’s move on to the field of competition, may it bring truth, consolation and joy to all!”

A sequence censored by certain media

In the Maghreb, Algeria and Morocco simply censored the sequence reminiscent of the Last Supper, and the screens displayed an image of the Louvre for more than a quarter of an hour. For its part, the American channel NBC, the main broadcaster of the Games in the United States, preferred to replace the scene with advertising spots. An American telecommunications and technology company, C Spire, even withdrew all of its advertising for the Games after judging this painting to be a “mockery of the Last Supper”, according to the revelations of the New York Post.

The Paris 2024 Games organization tried to quickly extinguish the controversy that was swelling among elected officials from the right and the far right. MEP Marion Maréchal notably declared on X (ex-Twitter): “To all the Christians in the world who watched the opening ceremony and felt insulted by this drag-queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation.”

IOC issues apology

In response to the controversy, Anne Descamps, the Olympics’ communications director, apologized for the organization. “Clearly, our intention was not to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, our intention was to show tolerance and communion. If people were offended, we apologize.”

The director of the opening ceremony, Thomas Jolly, also denied any provocation on the BFMTV set. “You will never find in me any desire to mock, to denigrate anything. I wanted to make a ceremony that repairs, that reconciles.” The artistic director assured that he was not inspired by the Last Supper but by the banquet of the gods, in ancient Greece. “I think it was quite clear, there is Dionysus who arrives on this table. He is there because he is the god of celebration, of wine, and father of Sequana, the goddess connected to the river.”

Beyond this controversy, the opening ceremony was a resounding success in France, with around 23 million viewers. According to a Harris poll, 85% of French people considered it a “success” and the foreign press was full of praise. In Spain, the daily The Country claimed that Paris had “amazed the world under the deluge” (of rain!), while The Geneva Tribune praised the “audacity” and “genius” of his neighbors, in a “magical, fairy-tale, Olympic Paris.”