Eight days after the opening of the Paris Olympic Games, the Vatican surprised many by issuing a statement late this Saturday evening, Aug. 3, expressing its “sadness” at some of the scenes of the opening ceremony that caused “offense to numerous Christians and to believers of other religions.”
In a brief statement, issued in French at around 8:00 p.m. Rome time, the Vatican said, “it cannot but join its voice with the others that have been raised in these last days to deplore the offense made to numerous Christians and believers of other religions.”
It said, “In a prestigious event [like the Olympics] where the entire world unites around common values, there must not be allusions ridiculing the religious beliefs of many people.”
The Vatican statement concluded by affirming that “The freedom of expression which, obviously, is not to be questioned, finds its limit in respecting others.”
America has learned that the Vatican had originally decided not to issue a statement because the French bishops had issued a statement soon after the event in which they denounced the offense to believers in a scene involving a drag queen and some 15 others. They and other critics saw the performance as a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous late 15th-century painting of the Last Supper.
The scene was also criticized by some on the political right in France, Hungary (Prime Minister Viktor Orbán) and the United States, including Donald Trump.
Several bishops in the United States, including Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, also issued statements or made comments denouncing what they saw as scenes that ridiculed Christianity.
As of Aug. 2, three cardinals and 24 bishops from around the world—the majority of whom are American—had signed an open letter to the International Olympic Committee calling for an apology for the display.
Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony, stated that da Vinci’s painting was not his inspiration, and a Paris Olympics spokeswoman apologized “if people have taken any offense.”
Pope Francis has not commented on the scandal, but at his Angelus address July 28, he denounced that “while there are many people in the world who suffer due to disasters and hunger, we continue to produce and sell weapons and burn resources fueling wars, large and small.”
“This is an outrage that the international community should not tolerate, and it contradicts the spirit of brotherhood of the Olympic Games that have just begun,” the pope said, which some interpreted as his response to the outrage over the opening ceremony display.
Pressure on the Vatican to respond
Tonight’s statement from the Holy See appears to have come following strong pressure from Christian and Muslim leaders.
On Aug. 1, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey also spoke about the controversy in a phone call that he made to Pope Francis following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. In a readout from the president’s office, reported by Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency, Mr. Erdogan also said the “immoral displays at the opening of the Paris Olympic Games caused outrage and provoked reactions.”
It said that the president stated that “under the guise of freedom of expression, human dignity was being trampled, and religious and moral values were being mocked, adding that this offended Muslims as much as the Christian world.”
It added that Turkey’s president expressed to Pope Francis his belief that “it was necessary to raise voices together and take a common stance in this regard” and said the disrespect to religious values during the Olympic opening ceremony marked the “alarm bell for the moral collapse the world is being dragged into.”
Earlier in the week, the Muslim Council of Elders, under the chairmanship of Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, vehemently condemned the performance at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which, it said, “blatantly insulted Jesus Christ (P.B.U.H.) and the esteemed status of prophethood.” (Muslims, as a sign of respect, add “Peace be upon him” after the names of prophets, commonly abbreviated P.B.U.H.) It said, “This disgraceful act showed a complete lack of respect for the beliefs of religious people and the high moral values they hold dear” and it “unequivocally” rejected “all attempts to demean religious symbols, beliefs, and sacred figures.”
The Muslim Council of Elders “emphasized that sports events should serve as platforms to celebrate cultural diversity and promote mutual respect among nations” and “strongly warned against the dangerous trend of using such events to normalize disrespect for religion and to promote destructive societal behaviors that deviate from natural human values.” It recalled that the Document on Human Fraternity, co-signed by the Grand Imam and Pope Francis in Abu Dhabi in 2019, “called on world leaders, policymakers, intellectuals, philosophers, religious figures, artists, media professionals and men and women of culture in every part of the world to confront all forms of cultural and moral degradation.”
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Vatican Text (unofficial translation):
The Holy See is saddened by certain scenes from the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris and cannot but join its voice with the others that have raised in these last days to deplore the offense made to numerous Christians and believers of other religions. In a prestigious event where the entire world unites around common values, there must not be allusions ridiculing the religious beliefs of many people.The freedom of expression which, obviously, is not to be questioned, finds its limit in respecting others.
Original text:
Le Saint-Siège a été attristé par certaines scènes de la cérémonie d’ouverture des Jeux Olympiques de Paris et ne peut que se joindre aux voix qui se sont élevées ces derniers jours pour déplorer l’offense faite à de nombreux chrétiens et croyants d’autres religions. Dans un événement prestigieux où le monde entier se réunit autour de valeurs communes ne devraient pas se trouver des allusions ridiculisant les convictions religieuses de nombreuses personnes. La liberté d’expression, qui, évidemment, n’est pas remise en cause, trouve sa limite dans le respect des autres.
Editors' note: for more on Gerard O'Connell's work as America's Vatican correspondent, see this interview.
