By Alric Lindsay
On Saturday, July 27, 2024, following the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games, Thomas Jolly, the “artistic director of ceremonies,” attended a press conference of the International Olympic Committee to address viral images of a drag queen representation of the Last Supper which religious leaders and many on social media said was a mockery of Christianity.
Rather than being a mockery of Christianity, Jolly said, “My will is not to be subversive, nor to mock, nor to shock.”
He explained:
The Olympic Games are and this ceremony is obviously political… in the political sense of “polis”… the Greek word “polis” [which means] “the city.”
It brings together the city, the city behind that, obviously the country, the continent, the world…
My will is simply to say that we are this great [community] and last night it was republican ideas, it was ideas of inclusion, it was ideas of benevolence, of generosity, ideas of solidarity. In short, of what I believe we desperately need.
He added:
I especially wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion, and not at all to divide. Precisely because I think that it is enough… I think we have had a lot of divisions not only a lot via policies but also because we are coming out of a period of Covid, we were each put back at home isolated, and I think that with my team we wanted to be rather unifying rather than being, how to say, be subversive.
He continued:
In my childhood, I didn’t have much of a role model, but on the other hand, I have a life path which also allows me to be in adversity.
I have adversity. I have known this since my childhood because I was the victim of harassment.
This adversity… I always wanted to fight it through the theatre. That’s why I chose to do shows. But because I believe that the theatre precisely highlights the singularities of each and everyone and that’s what we love about great actors and great actresses and that’s what I wanted to do when I was little, what allowed me to live better and to be better in the world.
However, the French Bishops’ Conference was unhappy with the theatrical presentation of the Last Supper and Christianity.
On X (formerly Twitter), the French Bishops’ Conference said:
We believe that the values and principles expressed and disseminated by sport and Olympism contribute to the need for unity and fraternity that our world so desperately needs, while respecting everyone’s convictions, around the sport that brings us together and promotes peace among nations and hearts.
Last night’s opening ceremony, organized by the French COJOP, offered the world a marvelous display of beauty and joy. rich in emotion and universally acclaimed.
This ceremony unfortunately included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity, which we deeply regret. We would like to thank the members of other religious denominations who have expressed their solidarity with us.
This morning, we are thinking of all the 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.
Sport is a wonderful human activity that deeply delights the hearts of athletes ‘and spectators alike. Olympism is a movement at the service of this reality of human unity and fraternity. Now it’s time to take to the field, and may it bring truth, consolation and joy to all.
Angry comments also appeared on Twitter from others
Notwithstanding the comments, Jolly maintains that his intention was not to divide but to unite.
