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We’ve all encountered the bizarre representation: the nude blue man on a plate, the disturbing Dionysus as a stand-in for Jesus, and the drag queen adaptation of the Last Supper.
The Paris Olympic Committee has taken the lead in offensive depictions of sacred moments in Christianity.
This isn’t the first instance in recent history where Catholics have faced mockery in drag. Remember the L.A. Dodgers’ invitation to the drag queens known as the Little Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as part of their Pride Night festivities? They’ve now been relegated to second place.
However, the Olympic display is worse, as it offended not just one faction of Catholics—specifically those religious women who observe a vow of chastity—but also our God himself, and, apart from the crucifixion, it trivialized the most significant event in our faith: the moment He offers His body, soul, and divinity as an everlasting gift to his followers.
In a blatant exercise in gaslighting, the Olympic Committee shared an image of the grotesque display, proclaiming, “Olympics: The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus brings to light the absurdity of violence among humans.”
The irony is that Dionysus, although primarily celebrated as the god of wine and pleasure, was notorious for tearing his enemies apart. One would think the Opening Ceremonies Committee could have performed a basic internet search; AI Overview indicates that “Dionysus, the god of wine, music, and dance, has wielded his powers to punish the foes of his cult and the liberties he stands for.” Oops.
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The harsher truth remains: France, once heralded as the “Eldest Daughter of the Church” and home to numerous Catholic martyrs, is now facing a genuine surge in anti-Catholic violence.
The nation commemorated eight years last week since they lost another martyr, Father Jacques Hamel, who was murdered by jihadists during Mass. This was in the very moment we remember in every Mass: the Last Supper.
Interestingly, most anti-Catholic violence in France seems to stem more from radical secularists than radical Muslims. They have torched countless churches, vandalized statues and holy sites, desecrated tabernacles, and inscribed blasphemies and threats on historic structures—like “blessed abortion” on Saint-Jacques Church in Grenoble and “our lives, our bodies belong to us” on the Cathedral of Saint-Jean of Besançon, not to mention “Satan punishes homophobes” written on Toulouse’s Saint-Roch-du-Férétra Chapel.
Shortly after “blessed abortion” was sprayed on the walls of Saint-Jacques Church in Grenoble, it was completely destroyed by fire.
PARIS OLYMPICS IN FULL SWING AS ORGANIZERS NAVIGATE FALLOUT OF OPENING CEREMONY UPROAR
Attacks on Catholic churches in France are far from isolated incidents; they indicate a disturbing continental trend. The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) reported a staggering 44 percent increase in anti-Christian hate crimes from 2021 to 2022. Arson incidents soared by an astonishing 75 percent.
This troubling trend crosses the Atlantic to America, where violent incidents against churches and church-associated institutions like pregnancy centers are also rising. According to Catholic Vote’s tracker, there have been over 400 occurrences since 2020, including acts of arson that caused significant harm to historic churches, satanic graffiti, vandalism, and unlawful disruptions of Mass. One event even took place just a mile from my house, in a church my family frequents.
Yet, the Olympic Opening Ceremony organizers’ reaction to the well-documented increase in anti-Catholic violence, both in France and elsewhere, was to deride Christians and mislead critics with hollow claims of human unity.
How very Dionysian.
A panoramic view of the Eiffel Tower from Trocadero, with crowds taking shelter from the rain during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games. (James Lang-USA TODAY Sports)
This is an example of Olympic-level bigotry that has reached the highest echelons of global leadership. As Princeton professor Robert George articulated on social media, “It revealed the moral decay and spiritual indifference displayed by many western elites. This image speaks volumes.”
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It was a silent exhibition of blasphemous bigotry, followed by a hollow apology that Bishop Robert Barron termed a “masterpiece of woke duplicity.”
Responding to aggression against Christians through mockery of what they hold dear is a practice as old as Christianity itself. We’ve witnessed this before, will likely see it again, but we will not be swayed by attempts to disguise bigotry through body paint, sequins, or any other outrageous costume that detractors might employ.
