The mayor of Paris has launched an extraordinary attack on religious leaders and politicians who voiced their outrage at the Olympic opening ceremony. Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde, published on Tuesday, Anne Hidalgo said: “F— the reactionaries, f— this far right, f— all of those who would like to lock us into a war of all against all.”
A scene during the four-hour ceremony appeared to parody Renaissance painter Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper – a biblical scene of Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles sharing a last meal before crucifixion.
It was performed by a group of drag queens, a transgender model and a near-naked singer made up as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. It was set to music by lesbian activist DJ Barbara Butch.
Catholic and conservative Christian groups as well as right-wing political leaders worldwide, including former US president Donald Trump and Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, criticised the scene as tasteless and blasphemous.
Much of their vitriol has been directed at the ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, and at DJ Butch, who participated in the performance. French authorities have opened an investigation into death threats towards the pair.
Paris 2024 organisers said they were sorry and had no intention of showing disrespect towards any religious group.
Mr Jolly also said that religious mockery had not been his intention and that the scene was supposed to depict a pagan feast linked to the gods of Olympus.
Ms Hidalgo told Le Monde she was proud of the way the opening ceremony presented Paris to the world.
“There is both admiration for this incredible city, which not many people understand, and at the same time the orchestration of a hatred of Paris. Why? Paris is the city of all freedoms, the city of refuge for LGBTQI+ people, the city where people live together,” she said.
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Paris mayor launches attack on far-right, church over opening ceremony (By Rob Harris, Sydney Morning Herald)
