The Vatican deplores scenes from the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games

The Vatican The Pope said he was saddened by some scenes at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics and joined others in deploring the offence caused to many Christians and believers of other religions, in a statement issued on Saturday.

The Vatican added that “at a prestigious event where the whole world comes together to share common values, there should be no ridiculous allusions to religion” regarding some scenes of the ceremony in which the Last Supper seemed to be represented in a parody.

“The Holy See, saddened by some scenes from the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, cannot but join the voices that have been raised in recent days to deplore the offense caused to many Christians and believers of other religions,” the note begins.

“Freedom of expression, which is clearly not questioned, is limited only by respect for others,” the note says.

French bishops and other members of the Catholic Church had criticised some of the performances at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, in particular the one entitled “Festivity” which seemed like a recreation of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with his apostles made by Leonardo da Vinci, in this case replaced by drag queens, a trans model and the almost naked singer Philippe Katerine, with some attributes of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and partying.

Even Turkey’s president, Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has invited Pope Francis to express a common position on this scene “and to raise our voices together” against acts that, in his opinion, “ridicule moral and religious values ​​and trample on human honour under the guise of freedom of expression and tolerance.”

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