As I will be away shortly for my summer vacation I have prepared the newsletter articles in advance as I usually do when I am away. I had intended to write an article about the Olympics for Sunday 11 August to mark the Closing Ceremonies of the  Games. However, the following article is a response to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games – a copy of this article will also appear in the Newsletter on Sunday 11 August.  

The Olympic Games opened in Paris last Friday 26 August 2024. The Olympics are without doubt a wonderful sporting event which, in a world of disharmony and conflict, allows us a brief spectacle of unity even as countries battle one another for top medals and accolades. Sadly, though, this year’s Olympics marked a departure of an unprecedented scale in the way our Catholic faith was mocked and ridiculed by the event organisers. So if you doubted that we, as Catholics, are living in a secular age in which our faith, our religion and our Catholicism is attacked and ridiculed, then the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games should have left you in no doubt. So shame on the event organisers and the ceremony participants – sadly, to the shame of Paris and France, known always as the ‘oldest daughter of the Church.’ 

The parody of the Last Supper which featured during the opening ceremonies led the French bishops to release a statement on Saturday 27th July which, in part, read: 

“We thank the members of other religious denominations who have expressed their solidarity. This morning, we think of all Christians on all continents who have been hurt by the outrage and provocation of certain scenes…”

Can you imagine what the outcome would have been following the opening ceremony had the event organisers mocked Islam or Judaism in the same way it ridiculed Christianity?  Many internationally known political figures, particularly from American politics, condemned the display as a sign of the cultural rot in Western Civilization – and they may very well be correct in their assessment; time will tell. Bishop Robert Barron of Minnesota, known for his evangelisation through social media called on Catholics to  “make their voices heard” in response to what he called ‘the gross mockery of the Last Supper.’ So, in response to Bishop Barron’s suggestion I have this morning written to the French ambassador to Great Britain to express my disgust. You may very well do the same:

Ambassador Hélène Duchêne
French Embassy
58 Knightsbridge
London
SW1X 7JT 

Alternatively, you may wish to express a response in a way suggested by Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin. He called on Catholics to ‘fast and pray, and to renew our devotion to the Eucharist, the Sacred Heart and the Virgin Mary in reparation for such blasphemy.’

Fr John McLoughlin