Drag Queen Story Hour at the Olympics Rile Bishops

The opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris became "special" when it crossed the line between just weird to outright blasphemous. Its mocking portrayal of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" directly challenged Christians. There sat someone dressed as a woman, the size of a blimp, in the role of Jesus. It set off worldwide protests. Above this fake Christ figure was some odd halo, or was it a symbol of the Eucharist? As for the rest of the apostles, they are the same oddballs who perform at your local public library's drag queen story hour. Taxpayers take note. The human blimp is almost a self-caricature, a reminder that these are people you really don't want to entrust your culture to.

"With a lot of love mixed with astonishment and disapproval," wrote the Middle East Council of Churches. "We saw what happened during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in France, the mockery of the mystery of the mysteries in Christianity, and what is sacred to billions of people around the world. Freedom, diversity, and creativity are not compatible with insulting the beliefs of others, nor with mocking them, in ways that have nothing to do with human equality."

The French bishops wrote: "We thank the members of other religious denominations who expressed their solidarity with us. This morning, we are thinking of all Christians on every continent who have been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of certain scenes. We want them to understand that the Olympic celebration goes far beyond the ideological biases of a few artists."

At least one company, CSpire, has canceled its advertising for the Olympics, not that the athletes are to blame. To be fair to NBC and other officials, it was claimed that much of the performance was kept secret to surprise the audience. Well, surprise, surprise. 

But somewhere, somehow, some moron had to sign off on artistic director Thomas Jolly's attempt to represent "everyone" by queering the Olympics.  And that they did is no surprise these days. Catholic-bashing and Christian-bashing are in. Whether it is media executives, media personalities, or politicians, they all see Christianity as a restraint on their lust for power and control. So if that means presenting some naked guy painted blue or bearded men in dresses on the fashion runway, so be it.

As with the French Revolution, in which 50,000 were guillotined or executed as barges full of Christians were drowned in rivers to clear the way for the reign of the goddess of pure Reason, this was not France putting its best foot forward.

This production was not the France of the "Little Prince" or the Little Flower, St. Therese of Lisieux. As a family member wrote me, "It turns out to just be another Corky St. Clair production from Christopher Guest’s film 'Waiting for Guffman.' It’s Jazz Hands all the way down. Life is a bad cabaret, old chum. Paris is still locked in 1978, when the movie 'La Cage aux Folles' was a scandalous, bawdy, and funny take on men (who obviously look like men, pretending to be women)." 

The devil has clearly been upset recently and felt a little revenge was in order. In the United States, the Catholic Church has just completed a nationwide Eucharistic procession. The most holy Eucharist, which Catholics profess to be the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, was carried in procession through the streets in almost every city in the United States. Here is the procession walking through 200 city blocks in Manhattan. 

So, it is no surprise that Satan would want to mock the most Blessed Eucharist on a worldwide scale. It is his usual mocking attempt at one-upmanship. Most of these failed attempts elicit a response of greater devotion in believers. Such is the hidden grammar of history. 

As for the freak show aspects inserted into the opening ceremony in Paris, have no fear. This may be something of a high-water mark: a massive advertising campaign reminding the public of the kind of so-called artistic expression they don't want dominating their culture. Its in-your-face stupidity will diminish its role in public life as more and more people realize this cultural agenda is no longer about "live and let live."

The response of the bishops is a reminder that while we are called to love the sinner and hate the sin, we are in no way required to place homosexuals at the pinnacle of our culture. As the bishops of the Middle East wrote, "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do."    

Editor's note: Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps told the media after the event, "Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. (The opening ceremony) tried to celebrate community tolerance." 

"We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence we are really sorry."

Thomas Jolly, the director of the opening ceremony, denied that the scene was inspired by "The Last Supper" and instead depicted the painting "Feast of the Gods," which "disturbingly blends the iconography of myths with that of the Last Supper," according to the museum that owns it. We'll leave readers to decide whether those explanations hold water.