The Russian Orthodox Church has condemned the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, claiming that Christians were insulted and that a "godless culture" is spreading in Europe.
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics has drawn significant backlash for its depiction of Leonardo da Vinci's painting "The Last Supper" with a "drag queen" performance, which many view as disrespectful to religious beliefs.
Vakhtang Kipshidze, the deputy chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media, expressed outrage over a performance during the ceremony that depicted the "Last Supper" with a drag queen.
Expressing solidarity with millions of Christians who felt insulted by the opening ceremony, Kipshidze said: "Those who directed the Olympic opening showed their disdain for European civilisation and Christianity as its foundation. It is sad to see a culture based on godlessness growing in the centre of Europe, parodying Christianity just as a monkey parodies a human being."
More condemnation
Egypt’s Al-Azhar, which is the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, also condemned the “insulting scenes” of Jesus Christ during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris on Friday.
These scenes “depict Jesus Christ in an offensive manner, disrespecting his honourable person and the high status of prophecy in a reckless barbaric way that does not respect the feelings of believers in religions and high human morals and values,” Al-Azhar said in a statement.
The Cairo-based institution warned against “the danger of exploiting global events to normalise insults to religion and promote destructive and disgraceful social diseases such as perversion and transgenderism.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued on Sunday a formal apology following the controversy caused by the parody.
"Clearly, there was never intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, we intended to show tolerance and community. If people have taken any offence, then we are sorry,” spokesperson Anne Descamps told a press conference on Sunday.
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