Bishop Andrew Cozzens
Responding to the blasphemous, anti-Christian opening ceremony at the Olympic Games in Paris, Bishop Andrew Cozzens issued a statement calling U.S. Catholics to make reparations while Bishop Robert Barron suggested Catholics should reject the “half apology” issued on Sunday by the Olympic Committee.
Cozzens, Bishop of Crookston, MN, and Chairman of the Board of the National Eucharistic Congress, issued an official statement via email on Saturday in response to the opening ceremony in Paris, which included a mockery of the Last Supper performed by a group of transvestites.
The four-hour-long extravaganza created by French choreographer and self-described “secular gay Jew” Thomas Jolly unfolded in a 4.5-mile stretch of the River Seine, and included 12 scenes allegedly aimed at “capturing the French spirit and embracing diversity and inclusion.”
The main performance featured a group of drag performers that at one point froze for several seconds to mock Leonardo DaVinci’s iconic “Last Supper.” They then exploded in a bacanal-style dance that mixed transgender persons – exposing their genitalia – with small children.
“On Friday evening, July 19th, we all united around Our Eucharistic Lord in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to make reparation for our sins,” Bishops Cozzens wrote at the beginning of his letter to American Catholics:
Just one week later, on July 26th in Paris, where the newly restored Cathedral of Notre Dame stands as an iconic reminder to our belief in the importance of the Mass, which makes spiritually present to us the Last Supper, nearly 1 billion men, women and children, in person and through live telecast, witnessed the public mockery of the Mass, the “source and summit of the Christian life” (LG, 11).
Cozzens explained that “during the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics, the famous DaVinci Masterpiece The Last Supper was depicted in heinous fashion, leaving us in such shock, sorrow and righteous anger that words cannot describe it.”
“Jesus,” the Bishop of Crookston continued,
experienced his Passion anew Friday night in Paris when his Last Supper was publicly defamed. As his living body, we are invited to enter into this moment of passion with him, this moment of public shame, mockery, and persecution. We do this through prayer and fasting. And our greatest prayer—in season and out of season—is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The Bishop then encouraged American Catholics to “pray for healing and forgiveness for all those who participated in this mockery. Let us commit ourselves this week to greater prayer and fasting in reparation for this sin. Perhaps you could attend Mass once more this week or do an extra holy hour?”
But he explained that “we may also be called upon to speak about this evil. Let us do so with love and charity, but also with firmness.”
“Inspired by the many martyrs who shed their blood to witness to the truth of the Mass, we will not stand aside and quietly abide as the world mocks our greatest gift from the Lord Jesus,” he concluded. “Let us, strengthened by Christ, be the Eucharistic Missionaries we are called to be.”
Cozzens’ letter was released only hours after the Bishops’ Conference of France issued a statement in French and English criticizing the opening ceremony.
“This ceremony unfortunately included scenes in which Christianity was mocked and ridiculed, which we deeply regret,” said the French Bishop, who also thanked
the members of other religious denominations who have expressed their solidarity with us. This morning we think of all Christians on all continents who have been hurt by the exaggeration and provocation of some scenes.
Also on Saturday, Most Reverend Emmanuel Gobilliard, Bishop of Digne (France) and special representative of the Holy See for the 2024 Paris Olympics, told OSV News that “what shocked me most is that the freedom of spirit and tone claimed by those who set this up shouldn’t be directed against others.”
“You can make fun of your own ideas, laugh at yourself, why not,” he said. “But to mock the faith and religion of others in this way … is very shocking. That was my first reaction.”
“Why there” at the Inauguration of the Olympic games, Bishop Gobilliard asked in a conversation with OSV News. “It is contrary to the Olympic Charter, to the dimension of unity that is present in its values, to the idea of bringing everyone together, without political and religious demonstrations. Why exclude believers and Christians? It was the last place to do that.”
“All the Christians who watched it suffered this derision… many Christian athletes suffered (from) it,” Gobilliard added.
As CatholicVote reported on July 27, the anti-Christian parody sparked strong criticism from Catholic leaders and influencers. It also elicited strong reactions from non-Christians who ranged from calling the mockery an “unnecessary provocation” and “anti-Christian” to “disrespectful” and “blasphemous.”
Gay health and fitness influencer Jillian Michaels expressed her frustration to her 1.5 million followers on X, stated:
Dear fellow gays… We demand tolerance and respect but then make a mockery of something sacred for over 2 billion Christians. This type of hypocrisy and lack of understanding is a bad look. We get outraged when the extreme right bashes us, but then we do this sh*t. What kind of reaction do you think they will have towards the LGBTQ+ community after this. This is NOT how we break down barriers it’s how you build them.
Many U.S. Bishops added their voices on social media, mostly on X, to express their condemnation of the blasphemous act and their call to Catholics to respond with compassion and prayer, but also with courage.
Among them, Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, NE, said on his X account that “in times such as these, we are called to defend our faith and the reason for our hope.”
“That reason for hope,” Conley explained, “will not be found in the Olympics, but in Jesus Christ. ‘Let us then throw off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light’ (Romans 13:12).”
Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, MN, founder of “Word on Fire,” was one of the first Catholic leaders to react on X with an impromptu video.
“This deeply secular postmodern society knows who its enemy is, they are naming it, and we should believe them,” Barron said. “We Christians, we Catholics should not be sheepish. We should resist. We should make our voices heard.”
As worldwide criticism against the mockery of the Last Supper increased during the weekend, Paris Olympics organizers were forced to issue a tepid apology on Sunday during a press conference.
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think (with) Thomas Jolly, we really did try to celebrate community tolerance,” said spokesperson Anne Descamp. “Looking at the result of the polls that we shared, we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are, of course, really, really sorry.”
But in a followup video posted on X Sunday, Bishop Barron was clear: “I saw the so-called apology from the organizing committee, and it is anything but an apology. In fact, it’s kind of a masterpiece of woke duplicity. If they felt this is meant to mollify Christians, I would think again.”
“Christians were offended because it was offensive and it was intended to be offensive. So please don’t patronize us with these condescending remarks,” he added.
Barron concluded: “A real apology would be something like: ‘this was a mistake, it should have never been done and we are sorry for it.’ I don’t think Christians should be mollified. I think we should keep raising our voices.”
