Father Mike Schmitz, a prominent Catholic influencer on social media, recently commented on the seeming mockery at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. While dismissing claims that the performance was not intended to mock “The Last Supper,” Schmitz illustrated that Jesus Christ died for the very people who participated in the “blasphemy.”
“I usually don’t do hot takes. I mean, the sense, I usually don’t do, like recent news, sometimes it’s wise to let the temperature come down a little bit before commenting on something and just adding fuel to the fire. But here’s what I’ve been praying about for the last couple weeks, especially with regards to the Olympics and the opening ceremonies,” Schmitz said.
The father also praised those who have bravely stood up and defended the Christian faith in the wake of the performance. “I really appreciate those who have stood up for the Lord and stood up for the church and said, Hey, that’s not good. And this is wrong. This is insulting. And then, even worse than insulting,” he said.
Furthermore, Schmitz suggested Christians were being gaslit amid claims that it was not intended to represent “The Last Supper.” He added, “Number two, I’ve also heard the declaration from the people who are organizers saying, like, Oh no, no, no, no. This wasn’t inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. This was actually the feast of Dionysius and blah, blah, blah. And I don’t know, I don’t know if you’re familiar with the term gas lighting. he cats out of the bag.”
Schmitz further explained how the importance of the moment depicted in “The Last Supper,” stating, “It is very, very holy. It’s incredibly holy for many reasons, like this is, this is the moment where Jesus is pouring himself out. It’s, I mean, we say it now in the Eucharistic prayer every single day. On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread and gave thanks, saying, This is my body. The moment that was depicted in the opening ceremonies is the moment of betrayal, but at the same time, it’s the moment where he offered himself up, right? So this simultaneous moment of betrayal and the moment of self-gift out of love for the world again.”
Despite the flagrant mockery of Christ, Schmitz maintained that he was not offended by the display as that would require him to respect the performance in the first place. “In order for me to be offended by someone, I have to respect their opinion. I don’t respect your art, so I’m not offended by your art. Hope we can make the distinction here. I will respect and honor the dignity of every person involved in that is, you’re one of people that Jesus gave his life for,” he said.
The prominent Catholic leader concluded, “You’re one of the people for whom the Father sent His Son into this world to say, Why? Because he loves you. I said that I could say that about every single person involved in that whole thing, every single person who planned the whole thing, every person who executed the whole thing, that’s all true, but they’ve already revealed themselves to be artists of a lower class with thoughts that are not oriented towards the true, the good or the beautiful, and therefore I’m not offended.”
Watch Fr. Schmitz below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.