Apology Issued by Paris Olympics Organizers to Christians Regarding Last Supper Parody
‘If people have taken any offence we are really sorry,’ a Paris Olympics spokesperson said.
The organizers of the Paris Olympics on Sunday apologized to Christian and Catholic groups over a parody of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting that was displayed during the opening ceremony on Friday.
The segment copied the biblical scene of Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles sharing a meal, but featured drag queens, a transgender individual, and a nude singer.
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. [The opening ceremony] tried to celebrate community tolerance,” Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps told a press conference on Sunday, responding to the backlash that erupted in the aftermath of the performance.
“We believe this ambition was achieved,” the spokesperson added. “If people have taken any offence, we are really sorry.”
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The ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, has attempted to distance his scene from any “Last Supper” parallels after the ceremony, saying during a news conference that it was meant to celebrate “diversity” and “to include everyone.”
The apology was made after thousands of people on social media said they will boycott the Olympic Games after the ceremony, with many using a boycott-related hashtag to express their displeasure.
Meanwhile, the Catholic church in France said it deplored a ceremony that “included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity,” and Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the highest ranking Catholic official in Malta and an official for the Vatican’s powerful doctrinal office, said his office complained to France’s ambassador to Malta.
Responding to separate gaffe at the ceremony, Olympic Games organizers said they “deeply apologize” for introducing South Korea’s athletes as North Korea during the opening ceremony in Paris.
As the South Korean athletes waved their nation’s flag on a boat floating down the Seine River on Friday evening, they were announced in both French and English as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea, a country that is technically still at war with South Korea, also called the Republic of Korea.
“We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the Korean team during the opening ceremony broadcast,” the International Olympic Committee said in a post on X in Korean, according to a translation.
International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams told reporters that the error was “clearly deeply regrettable.”
“An operational mistake was made. We can only apologize, in an evening of so many moving parts, that this mistake was made,” Mr. Adams said in response to a question from a South Korean journalist during a news conference Saturday.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
