Muslim leaders condemn ‘disgraceful’ Olympics scene: It ‘offended us as much as them’

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. / Credit: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images; Grzegorz Wajda/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Jul 30, 2024 / 16:22 pm (CNA).

Top government officials in Iran and Turkey, along with other Muslim religious figures, are speaking out against the drag-queen-led parody of the Last Supper at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony that shocked Christians and others across the world. 

The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned the “insults” against Jesus Christ, noting that Jesus is a respected figure in Islam. 

“Respect for #JesusChrist … is an indisputable, definite matter for Muslims,” Khamenei said in a post on X. “We condemn these insults directed at the holy figures of divine religions, including Jesus Christ,” added the supreme leader of Iran since 1989.

Turkish President Recep Tayyi Erdoğan also spoke out against the ceremony, saying he intended to call Pope Francis at the earliest opportunity to discuss the “immorality committed against the Christian world.” 

The “disgraceful scene in Paris offended not only the Catholic world, not only the Christian world, but also us as much as them,” Erdoğan said during an address in the country’s capital of Ankara.

“Immorality displayed at the opening of the Paris Olympics once again highlighted the scale of the threat we face,” he added.

Muslims do not recognize the divinity of Jesus but do reverence him as a prophet. 

The top institution of the Sunni branch of Islam in Egypt also issued a statement condemning the Olympic ceremony portrayal.

“The scenes portray Jesus ‎Christ,” the Al-Azhar statement read, “in an offensive image that involves disrespect to his person.”

“Al-Azhar, and nearly 2 billion Muslims behind it, believe that Jesus … is the ‎Messenger of Allah. The Quran reads, Jesus is Allah’s ‘Word through Mary and a spirit ‎from him.’” 

The Muslim Council of Elders, under the chairmanship of Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, also issued a denunciation of the opening ceremony. 

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

Christian as well as other leaders worldwide have spoken out against Friday’s opening ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The world’s wealthiest individual, Elon Musk, called the scene “extremely disrespectful to Christians.”

The controversial show, part of the 1.5-billion-euro (about $1.62 billion) spectacle to kick off the Olympic Games, featured drag queens portraying the apostles and an overweight DJ as Jesus in what appeared to be a part of a fashion show apparently mocking Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting of the Last Supper.

Anne Descamps, spokesperson for the Paris Olympics, defended the opening ceremonies, saying “there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group.”

She said the goal of the opening ceremony was to “celebrate community tolerance.”

“We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are really sorry,” Descamps added.

Bishop Robert Barron panned Descamps’ statement as “anything but an apology.”