(ANALYSIS) The Catholic bishops of France admired the "marvelous display of beauty and joy" in the 2024 Olympics opening rites, but also slammed the blending of Christian sacred art, Greek mythology and the sexual revolution.

“This ceremony unfortunately included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity,” said the bishops. “We are thinking of all the Christians on every continent who have been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of certain scenes.”

That was soon followed by an appeal to the International Olympic Committee from a global circle of cardinals and bishops protesting "a grotesque and blasphemous depiction of the Last Supper. ... It is hard to understand how the faith of over two billion people can be so casually and intentionally blasphemed.”

But the Vatican remained silent for more than a week while online combat raged between clergy, entertainers, academics, diplomats and armies of social-media warriors.

Finally, the Holy See released a muted statement that it was “saddened” by the ‘offense done to many Christians and believers of other religions. ... In a prestigious event where the whole world comes together around common values, there should be no allusions that ridicule the religious convictions of many people.”

These debates raged on and on because few combatants could agree on what took place, in part because that scene in the opening ceremonies were quickly removed from the official Olympics YouTube and NBC Universal accounts.

However, photographs and video show 16 or more drag and transgender performers, with one child, posed in “vogueing” stances along one side of a table, in front of the Seine River and Eiffel Tower. The edgy drama also included, with brief nudity, the performers prancing on a stylized fashion runway.

Eventually, a silver food dish opened to reveal, instead of bread and wine, singer Philippe Katerine — painted blue — portraying Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstasy. Pointing to his groin, he sang (translated from French): “Where to hide a revolver when you're completely naked?”

A DJ, Barbara Butch, took center stage, in a headdress resembling a halo. In an Instagram post, which was soon taken down, she proclaimed, “OH YES! OH YES! THE NEW GAY TESTAMENT!” — under parallel images of "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci and a photo of the Olympics table tableau.

In post-ceremony interviews, the director — actor Thomas Jolly — stressed that this part of the show was “his interpretation” of myths about Dionysus and a plea for diversity and nonviolence. But the Paris 2024 producers released a statement to TheWrap admitting that da Vinci's masterpiece served as one inspiration, while adding: "Clearly, there was never an intention to show disrespect towards any religious group or belief.”

In pre-Olympics coverage, the Sortir, a Paris website, noted that the opening ceremonies would include “a familiar scene re-enacted by drag queens ... surrounding Barbara Butch at her turntables: a recreation of the Last Supper, another famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, set against the backdrop of the Seine. As you may have guessed, this is a multiple pun in French.”

That French pun, cited by the newspaper Le Soir, Sportskeeda.com and other sources, was “La Cene sur la scene sur la Seine” — or in English (failing to capture the pun), “The Last Supper on a stage on the Seine.”

No one should be surprised by this blast of satire, since French artists have “been poking fun at Christianity for centuries,” noted the Rev. Mike Starkey, an Anglican priest, journalist and regular contributor on BBC Radio 2. But this was the Olympics, a "unifying ceremony of a global celebration of sport and goodwill.”

Thus, he added, it's important to note that Christianity has become “overwhelmingly African, Latin and Asian” in the 21st century and, in terms of statistics, is now the world's most persecuted faith.

“In social justice circles today, imperialism and racism are viewed as original sins of Western culture. By a supreme irony, the drag parody of the Last Supper managed to be a distilled expression of both,” wrote Starkey in an online commentary. “It featured camp, arty, and mostly male Westerners, poking fun at a faith that is globally poor, ethnically mixed and majority black, persecuted, and predominantly female.

“Hardly a message the Olympics should be sending to the watching world.”

COPYRIGHT 2024 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Terry Mattingly is Senior Fellow on Communications and Culture at Saint Constantine College in Houston. He lives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and writes Rational Sheep, a Substack newsletter on faith and mass media.