The day was exciting with everyone anticipating how the events of the Olympics would play out. That night was the opening ceremony, and this creation led to a bigger fracture between the LGBTQ and Catholic communities.
On July 26th, 2024, Paris had their opening ceremony for the Olympics. Thomas Jelly the director for the new variation of the Leonardo De Vinci “Last Supper” portrait of Jesus Christ and the twelve Apostles. By having them be all Drag queens, they stood all along the long table revealing the food and being a Drag queen as well.
Later on that night, lightning struck, leaving Paris in a power outage with only the Sacre-Coeur Church having power. This had people wondering if God did this to show how he felt disrespected or if it was just a coincidence. The ceremony overall has created more tension between the two communities both positive and negative.
Taxiarchos228, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (Taxiarchos228)
The positive aspect is many people including Sarahi Herrera from Agua Fria High School, agreed that the Opening Ceremony was trying to bring inclusivity to the Catholic community. Sarahi believes that Thomas Jellys, “wasn’t trying to target certain audiences and just wanted to bring inclusivity” and it was the least of his worries to direct it negatively. People also believe the Olympics meant this with a good heart and good intentions but this was inferred differently. Many hope that this event will bring the LGBTQ and Catholic communities closer.
The negative aspect is people believing Thomas Jelly is a Satanist because of the other events he directed for the Olympics. Many saw and took this as a sign of mockery to God and the Catholic community. Even though Thomas has apologized during multiple press conferences to explain it wasn’t meant to be taken as insulting or offensive, many have already taken this ceremony online and have been spreading their opinions of how insulted they feel as a community. Many go on to say the Ceremony gave a negative view of the Olympics. This negative image of the Olympics can lead to a decrease in viewers and attendees.
Ultimately this new creation of the Last Supper has left people curious about what this will lead to in the future. Will the Olympics not be as popular? Will Thomas Jelly be a part of the Olympics again? Will this bring the Lgbtq and the Catholic communities together or drift them farther apart?
