U.S. telecom company pulls Olympics ads following Last Supper parody 

“C Spire drew a common-sense, appropriate line,” said Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves about the company’s decision. / Credit: QubixStudio/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 31, 2024 / 17:32 pm (CNA).

The drag-queen-led parody of the Last Supper featured during the opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games sparked outrage around the world and has led C Spire, a U.S. mobile phone and internet company, to make the decision to pull all its advertising from the Olympics.

“We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics,” the Mississippi-based company announced in a post on X.

Commenting on the move, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said on X: “I am proud to see the private sector in Mississippi step up and put their foot down. God will not be mocked. C Spire drew a common-sense, appropriate line.”

More than 390,000 signatures demand a formal apology

In addition, more than 390,000 signatures have been collected in two campaigns — one by the CitizenGo platform, with more than 250,000, and another by the Christian Lawyers Foundation in Spain, with almost 140,000 — to request a formal apology from the organizers of the Olympic Games for the parody of the Last Supper.

The archbishop of Malta and deputy secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Charles Scicluna, also said he has written to the French ambassador in Malta to express the “distress and disappointment of many Christians at the gratuitous insult during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics” and encouraged others to do the same.

“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. [The opening ceremony] tried to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are really sorry,” said Anne Descamps, spokeswoman for Paris 2024, at a July 28 press conference, according to Reuters.

An opportunity for evangelization and forgiveness

The bishop of Córdoba in Spain, Demetrio Fernández, pointed out in his July 29 homily that with the parody of the Last Supper and with it the Eucharist, “they are trying to offend Christians, Jesus who has left us in this sacrament the essence of his life.”

“These blasphemies are very significant, but we have to show the capacity of Jesus Christ and his Church to forgive,” the prelate noted.

“Furthermore, this becomes an opportunity for evangelization that no one else can offer; only Christians are capable of forgiving even when they know the pain that this offense causes,” the Spanish bishop emphasized.

“The forgiveness of Jesus Christ for each one of us is greater than our offenses and the forgiveness of Christians is capable of being conveyed even when they feel deeply wounded,” Fernandez emphasized.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.