Upset bishops and mixed reviews for Paris Olympics ceremony

French bishops complained on Saturday about the scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games which has upset some conservatives and has drawn mixed reviewsThe opening had offered wonderful moments of beauty joy rich emotions and was universally praised a statement from the French Bishops Conference saidHowever this ceremony unfortunately included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity which we deeply regret the bishops saidWhile they did not refer to specific scenes the ceremony featured a segment entitled Festivity which began with a group sat at a table including several drag queens which was reminiscent of the Last Supper the final meal Jesus is said to have taken with his apostlesIt was set to music by lesbian activist DJ Barbara ButchWe think of all Christians across the continents who were hurt by the excesses and provocation of certain scenes We hope they understand that the Olympic celebration extends far beyond the ideological biases of a few artists added the bishopsThe statement was cosigned by the Holy Games a sports programme funded by the Catholic churchSome conservative and farright politicians in France have also expressed outrage over what they criticised as a woke parade which featured LGBT performers and a racially diverse castThe fourhour ceremony took place under driving rain with athletes sailing down a sixkilometre fourmile stretch of the river Seine on 85 boatsEntertainers performed from riverside monuments the banks and on bridgesTo all Christians worldwide who watched the opening ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper know that it is not France speaking but a leftist minority prepared for any provocation farright politician Marion Marechal wrote on XA spokesman for Frances farright National Rally party Julien Odoul called the ceremony a ransacking of French cultureArchconservative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban meanwhile railed against the weakness and disintegration of the Western world which he said was illustrated by the opening ceremonyWestern values were considered for a longtime as universal but are seen as increasingly unacceptable and rejected by many countries in the world Orban said in RomaniaShow artistic director Thomas Jolly who is gay had pledged last week that the ceremony would celebrate diversity and othernessSpeaking at a press conference on Saturday he said that his intention had not been to be subversive or to shockLast night it was about our Republican values of benevolence and inclusion he told reportersIn France you have the right to love as you like who you like In France you can believe in religion or not believe In France we have lots of rights he added Bloated Reviews of the parade have been mixedThe quirky and highkitsch parade which also featured ballet opera and hardrock has been broadly hailed in the French mediaSports newspaper lEquipe said it had left memories for a centuryBut writing in Britains The Guardian newspaper reviewer Arifa Akbar said there were some thoroughly weird curatorial decisionsParis is known for its taste but this looked like a motley outfit thrown together she saidCritic Mike Hale writing in The New York Times said the ceremony felt bloated and worked to diminish the athletesOverall it was quintessentially French titillating hermetic light on humor and heavy on pretense he wroteAround 100000 spectators watched from stands on the river banks often at a cost of hundreds sometimes thousands of eurosAlthough many were thrilled and upbeat despite the rain others complained that they were left to watch screens and passing boats for most of the time with the singers and dancers stretched out all along the routeAround 200000 people received free tickets to stand at locations along the banks often with poor visibility and many headed home earlyParis organisers and the Internatinal Olympic Committee IOC were fulsome in their praise for Jollys work at a press conference on SaturdayEvery edition of the Olympics brings a stone to the edifice Christophe Dubi Olympic Games executive director at the IOC said This has brought a mountain its not a small stoneChief Paris Games organiser Tony Estanguet hailed the ceremony as a unique moment and he stressed the successful work of French security forcesAround 45000 police officers 10000 soldiers and 22000 private security guards were on dutyThere were no security incidents he saidParis Olympics 2024 Indian athletes to compete in multiple individual events