By Agnes Aineah

A section of Catholic Bishops in Nigeria has described the drag queen-led parody of the Last Supper featured during the July 26 opening ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics as offensive to Christianity, and raised questions as to whether freedom of religion really exists in the West.

The highly denounced parody portrays DJ and producer Barbara Butch, an LGBTQ+ icon, as Jesus in what appears to be a part of a fashion show, apparently mocking Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting of the Last Supper.

According to Catholic Bishops of Nigeria’s Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province comprising Ibadan Catholic Archdiocese, Ilorin, Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti and Osogbo Dioceses, the mockery is shocking and disrespectful, and a “deliberate move to demean Christianity.”

In a statement shared with ACI Africa on Tuesday, July 30 at the end of their two-day meeting in the Diocese of Ondo, the Catholic Bishops say the caricature also questions the respect that the rest of the world has always had for Western countries that, according to the Catholic Bishops, are supposed to be civilized.

 “That this decadent caricature of one of the most cherished events of Christianity, ‘The Last Supper’, is publicized in France, a country with a rich and old Christian heritage, and at the Olympic games detracts from the status of the Olympics and belies all claims to enduring civility and respect for freedom of religion in the West,” the Bishops lament. 

Describing the mockery as a “sad” reality, the Catholic Bishops warn that it is a perpetration of what they described as “deliberate ongoing attempts in Europe and America to repurpose and demean Christian themes without regard for peace loving Christians who practice and profess their religion in peace.”

They note that similar disrespectful depictions and parody of religion and religious themes had been witnessed in Nigeria, and cautioned against the practice taking root in the West African country.

“As Africans we have a great respect for the divine and for religious sentiments,” the Catholic Bishops say, and continue, “Nothing must make us think that this constitutes part of our problem. Religion, faith and spirituality help people to deal with many fundamental issues of existence and therefore constitute a positive instrument.”

They say it is the abuse and misuse of religion, faith and spirituality that cause harm and therefore, must be curbed. 

“Regardless of what we go through as Africans we must never disrespect or thrash religious symbols and sentiments which touch people at their deepest levels of their being. To do this is to throw our humanizing and spiritual values and ideals to the dogs,” they say.

During their July 29-30 meeting, the Bishops deliberated on pertinent issues affecting the Church in Nigeria, including the hardships they said the people have had to endure owing to the country’s poor governance.

They said that the youth-led protests set to commence in various parts of the country on August 1 are justified.

According to the Bishops of the Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province, protests are held “as a last resort for citizens who have cried out for solutions to problems and have not been heeded.”

“We strongly believe that if governments in Nigeria at all levels had responded more promptly and effectively to the groans and distress calls of the Nigerian people the current protest would not have gathered momentum,” the Catholic Bishops said.

They added, “Nigerians have cried out about dire hunger in the land, persistent insecurity, failed promises, dashed hopes, outrageous cost of living and governance, and ineffectiveness of the rule of law in curbing criminality among public officials not to talk of many public officers’ ineptitude with serious national issues.”

“Protests are the last resort for amplifying the voice of those who feel oppressed,” they said, and appealed to Nigerians planning to join the protests to exercise restraint and not disturb or intimidate those who may choose not to participate in the exercise.

The Catholic Church leaders urged the Nigerian Federal State and Local Governments to “promptly” attend to the distress call of Nigerians and turn a new leaf by responding henceforth to the problems and distress of the citizens of Africa’s most populous nation. 

They further appealed to security agencies in the West African country to show restraint in discharging their duties and avoid violence in the planned protests.

The Catholic Bishops exhorted all Nigerians “to join hands together to rescue” the country.

They said, “Nigeria is a great country, and we are a great people and to this we all agree. Our current situation of hunger and deprivation is not as a result of economic poverty, but rather due to greed, corruption, lack of accountability, lawlessness, indiscipline, selfishness and poor attitude to work.”

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops have called on the faithful in Nigeria to observe the ongoing Year of Prayer which leads to the 2025 Jubilee of Hope. “We enjoin Nigerians to pray and fast sincerely for the country as we all go through the very difficult times which we know by faith in God that we shall overcome,” they say in the letter shared with ACI Africa July 30.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, EWTN Norway’s news partner.