UPDATE: 29 July 2024
The French Olympics peeps said “Oh no! That wasn’t the last supper! That was an “interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus [that] makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings”. They lied.
The Catholic Herald of the UK has a piece in which one of the pervs who took part in the blasphemous act confirmed that it was supposed to be the Last Supper. HERE
Correct me, please, if I am wrong, but I haven’t seen anything from the Holy See about the outrageous insult to all Christians, Catholics in particular. Does anyone know of anything clear?
Meanwhile, I read in The Middle East Monitor that “Al-Azhar condemns ‘reckless’ Paris Olympics ‘Last Supper’ parody”
Al-Azhar condemned the “insulting scenes” involving Christ during the Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday, calling it “reckless extremism and barbarism.”
The ceremony featured a live representation of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” with drag queens and a transgender model. Critics accused organisers of promoting homosexuality and sexual deviance.
In a statement, Al-Azhar, the largest religious institution in Egypt, denounced the portrayal as disrespectful to Christ’s esteemed prophetic stature and offensive to believers.
It reaffirmed its rejection of any harm to any prophets, emphasising that nearly two billion Muslims revere Jesus as a prophet and God’s messenger. Jesus, Prophet Issa (peace be upon him) as he is known to Muslims, is mentioned in the Quran many times.
Al-Azhar warned against using global events to normalise insults to religion and promote destructive social behaviours.
The uproar from the scenes on Friday led to Paris 2024 Olympics spokesperson Anne Descamps apologising, saying there was no intention to disrespect any religious group and that they aimed to display societal tolerance. [B as in B. S as in S. Of course that was their intention.]
Meanwhile, Bp. Baron is back on Twitter/X with another video. Again, he hit it out of the park.
To the Paris Olympics organizing committee, not good enough. #OlympicGames #Olympics2024Paris @Olympics pic.twitter.com/p8urrYLhA0
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) July 28, 2024
Friends, on Saturday I spoke with Eric Shawn about the offensive Olympics opening ceremony. Today’s apology from the Olympic committee isn’t good enough. pic.twitter.com/8vZmtpb8Ra
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) July 28, 2024
Originally posted on 28 July
I’ve started writing and stopped a couple of times. I finally saw clips from the opening ceremonies of the summer Olympics. I’m angry. I’m not that surprised, even though it is shocking to see how blatant their hatred and brazen blasphemy was.
The opening ceremonies of the SUMMER OLYMPICS…. This is what they want to communicate to their own population and to the entire world. This is the signal to all of the enemies of God that the war must now go hot and hard against not only the Church as an institution, but against what they really hate and fear, the Mass in particular, the Eucharist. They did so in the symbolism of pure perversion even including abuse of children. And there are traitors on the inside of the Church who have, like moles, sent up the signal flares to the Enemy saying, “The time has come! Climb Mount Perversion!”
To use a bellicose image, and this is a hot war now, if they are not shooting at you, you are not over the target.
The Devil has limited resources and limited time to work. Therefore the Enemy focuses on the true impediments to the destruction of souls. The Enemy will constantly and viciously attack the Catholic Church and her members because the Church is truly the only thing standing in their way. Attack her pastors, attack her members in their now pastor-induced enervation. Attack when individuals, communities, parishes, dioceses, nations no longer fulfill the necessary virtue of Religion, the sine qua non for the strength and health of any human endeavor. Attack.
The Enemy also tells you what they are up to. They did this hideous act of blasphemy on the anniversary of the martyrdom death of Fr. Hamel. It would not in the least surprise me if, during these games, more priests are attacked and more churches are torched.
UPDATE:
I found an excellent video message from Gavin Ashenden of Catholic Unscripted across the pond. He hit for six, to put it in terms they get over there.
This video convinced me to get a paid subscription to their channel. I’ll reallocate one of your donations to me for this. It’s war. Let’s call this a kind of “lend lease” act of solidarity. I’d like to do more with these three, Ashenden, a distinguished convert, insightful and witty Katherine Bennet (not a Jane Austin character) and the ever-sharp Mark Lambert. Of course I may be old news for them, hard to say, but we all must close ranks.
I suggest that you check their channel and, if you sign up, tell them Fr. Z sent you. Check them HERE
UPDATE:
In trying to write this particular post, I have had to fight to save the draft. They wouldn’t save. I’ve had to cut and paste the html into a new post.
More party tricks.
UPDATE:
Bishop Robert Barron knocks it out of the park. I have to hand it to him, since he became a diocesan bishop. He asked the old question, “Would they have mocked Islam?” Of course not, not in France of today! They are, instead, signaling that the attack is on. At the end of this short, Barron says, “[They] know who their enemy is, they’re naming it. They’re telling us who they are. And we should believe them.”
Friends, my thoughts on the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. #Olimpiadas2024 #OlympicGames pic.twitter.com/xU1ljFMZft
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) July 27, 2024
UPDATE:
I’ve looked at some titles of videos from the usual commentators but, sheesh, who had the time? They tend to go on and on.
UPDATE:
With his trademark clarity.
Liberalism has so rotted out minds that even many who are appalled by what happened in Paris frame it as a matter of offending people. No, it is about the evil of dishonoring God, and of undermining social and moral order, which requires being oriented to God above all.
— Edward Feser (@FeserEdward) July 27, 2024
UPDATE:
Paris goes dark except for the Sacré-Cœur Basilica pic.twitter.com/L4XQ0Nop0e
— Arthur Bloom (@j_arthur_bloom) July 27, 2024
UPDATE:
I read a piece at NewsMax. My emphases and comments.
Paris 2024 organizers apologized on Sunday to Catholics and other Christian groups angered by a kitsch [meaning, “naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal taste”… no, it was worse than that] tableau in the Olympic Games opening ceremony that parodied Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous ‘The Last Supper’ painting. [It parodied MASS not just a painting.]
The segment, which resembled the biblical scene of Jesus Christ and his apostles sharing a last meal before crucifixion and featured drag queens, a transgender model, and a naked singer made up as the Greek god of wine Dionysus, drew dismay from the Catholic Church and the religious right in America.“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. [I’d like to see the French, but…. “Clearly” ?!?!? B as in B, S as in S. There’s no way that this received approval without someone saying “Clearly a lot of people are going to be offended and there will be bad fallout.”, to which others said, “Clearly, good.”]
“We believe this ambition was achieved. [What, please, does that mean?] If people have taken any offense we are really sorry.” [That strikes me as a false statement.]
France, while proud of its rich Catholic heritage, also has a long tradition of secularism and anti-clericalism. [Tell that to the thousands of priests and religious murdered during the Terror.] Blasphemy is not only legal, but also considered by many as an essential pillar of freedom of speech. [“Blasphemy is… essential”. Hell is … essential for blasphemers.]
Supporters of the tableau praised its message of inclusivity and tolerance. [How was that tolerant of Catholics and other Christians with valid sacraments?]
The Catholic Church in France said it deplored a ceremony that “included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity.”
Some French athletes had trouble sleeping because of the fallout from the controversy, said Monsignor Emmanuel Gobilliard, delegate of the Bishops of France for the Games.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the highest ranking Catholic official in Malta and an official for the Vatican’s powerful doctrinal office, said he had contacted France’s ambassador to Malta to complain about the “gratuitous insult.”
In a message to the ambassador shared on X he wrote: “I would like to express my distress and great disappointment at the insult to us Christians during the opening ceremony … when a group of drag artists parodied the Last Supper of Jesus.”
Some commentators said the controversy was another example of 21st century culture wars turbocharged by a 24-hour news cycle and social media.
Thomas Jolly, the artistic director and mastermind behind the flamboyant opening ceremony, said religious subversion had never been his intention. [That strikes me as a false statement.]
“We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that,” he told reporters on Saturday. [Perversion?]
In the AP story we get a different tenor…. some quips:
[…]
Le Filip, the recent winner of “Drag Race France,” expressed their positive “surprise” and “pride” at the ceremony’s scale and representation.
“I thought it would be a five-minute drag event with queer representation. I was amazed. It started with Lady Gaga, then we had drag queens, a huge rave, and a fire in the sky,” they said. “It felt like a crowning all over again. I am proud to see my friends and queer people on the world stage.”[…]
[NB] “The (French) government knows what it’s doing. They want to show themselves in the best way possible. They showed no restraints in expression,” Le Filip told The Associated Press.
[…]
Le Filip responded to the criticism of the scene with a touch of humor and sorrow. [B as in B, S as in S.]
“It feels like the words of somebody who didn’t get on the guest list. We could all be laughing together. It’s sad to me, honestly,” they said. [“They”?]
Meanwhile…
[…]
Inter-LGBT President James Leperlier… “If you saw the opening ceremony last night you’d think it was like that normally, but it’s not. France tried to show what it should be and not what it is,” he said.
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