Egypt’s Coptic Church: Parody of Last Supper at 2024 Olympics serious insult to one of Christianity's fundamental beliefs

CAIRO – 28 July 2024: The Coptic Orthodox Church, led by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, strongly expresses its dissatisfaction and condemnation of the depiction of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ and his disciples during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Last Supper painting portrayed the establishment of the Eucharist, one of the Church’s oldest and most sacred sacraments and practices, the Egyptian Church said in a statement on Sunday.

“Regrettably, the presentation of this scene constitutes a serious insult to one of Christianity's fundamental religious beliefs,” the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church said in the statement, adding “It is strange to see this scene at the Olympics' opening ceremony, especially when such actions contradict the Olympic Charter and its core values.”

The Charter emphasizes respect for fundamental ethical principles worldwide, setting a positive example, and treating everyone without discrimination, the Church continued.

Unfortunately, the depiction in the ceremony runs counter to Olympic Charter principles, seemingly promoting specific intellectual agendas unrelated to sports, which ideally should unite rather than divide, the Church said.

“This blasphemy demands a clear and sincere apology from the organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympics to all Christians who were deeply offended by this regrettable scene. It marred what should have been a global celebration of sport bringing joy and happiness to all participants and spectators. We expect assurances that such blasphemous depictions will not recur in the future,” the statement continued.

A group of drag queens and dancers performed a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Super,” at the opening ceremony of Olympics Games in Paris, a scene that stirred the controversary and angry of Christians and Muslims worldwide. The ceremony organizers apologized for the Catholic Church and other Christian churches for this scene.

Islamic Institutions: It is a barbaric, reckless manner

Al-Azhar, Egypt’s top Sunni Islamic institution, condemned blasphemous scenes that depicting the Last Supper of Jesus Christ- Peace and blessing be upon him (pbuh)- at the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris.

“The scenes portray Jesus ‎Christ (pbuh) in an offensive image that involves disrespect to his person and to the high ‎status of prophecy, in a barbaric, reckless manner that vexes believers in religions and ‎travesties morals and noble human values,” said Al-Azhar in a statement on Sunday.

Al-Azhar underscored its permanent rejection of all attempts to disrespect any of Allah’s ‎prophets, the statement added.

“The prophets and the Messengers are the best of Allah’s creation. He chose them ‎and preferred them over all other creation to carry the message of goodness to the ‎worlds,” the statement read.

“Al-Azhar, and nearly two billion Muslims behind it, believe that Jesus (pbuh) is the ‎Messenger of Allah. The Quran reads, Jesus is Allah’s “Word through Mary and a spirit ‎from Him” (4: 171),” the statement continued.

Allah also described Jesus in the Noble Qur’an as “honored in this world ‎and the Hereafter, and he will be one of those nearest (to Allah)” (3: 45). Allah counted him ‎among the Messengers of Resolve.

Muslims believe that disrespecting Jesus (peace and blessing on him) or ‎any other prophet (peace be upon them all) is a sin and a shame on the perpetrators of ‎this heinous abuse and those who accept it.‎

Al-Azhar warned against the danger of exploiting global events to “normalize insults” to religion and promote homosexuality and transgenderism

It also calls for unity which is necessary to ‎confront this deviant and low trend that aims to exclude religion and deify lowly sexual ‎desires that spread health and moral diseases, impose an animalistic lifestyle that ‎contradicts sound human nature, and thus forcibly normalize it in societies by all ‎possible and impossible means and methods.‎

Also, The Muslim Council of Elders, under the chairmanship of His Eminence Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, vehemently condemned the performance at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which blatantly insulted Jesus Christ (PBUH) and the esteemed status of prophethood.

“This disgraceful act showed a complete lack of respect for the beliefs of religious people and the high moral values they hold dear. The Council unequivocally rejects all attempts to demean religious symbols, beliefs, and sacred figures,” the Council said in a statement

The Muslim Council of Elders emphasized that sports events should serve as platforms to celebrate cultural diversity and promote mutual respect among nations. It strongly warned against the dangerous trend of using such events to normalize disrespect for religion and to promote destructive societal behaviors that deviate from natural human values.

The statement also underscored that the Document on Human Fraternity, which was co-signed by His Eminence Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders and His Holiness Pope Francis, Pontiff of the Catholic Church in Abu Dhabi in 2019. It calls on world leaders, policymakers, intellectuals, philosophers, religious figures, artists, media professionals and men and women of culture in every part of the world to confront all forms of cultural and moral degradation.

The document also urges them to rediscover the values of peace, justice, goodness, beauty, human fraternity and coexistence in order to confirm the importance of these values as anchors of salvation for all, and to promote them everywhere.