Rica Peralejo (leftmost) bared her honest thoughts about the viral opening ceremony at the Olympics which was accused of mocking “The Last Supper.” Images: Instagram/@ricaperalejo, YouTube/Olympics
Rica Peralejo reminded her fellow Christians to be mindful of how they appear to make faith look “reactionary,” following a backlash from religious sectors over a segment of the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony they believed was a mockery of “The Last Supper.”
The organizers of the Olympics drew flak after a controversial tableau depicting a bacchanalian feast in its opening ceremony showed drag queens and performers lining a long table. A man, portraying the Greek god of wine Dionysus, covered in blue paint while donning a flower wreath on his head then laid down on the center of the table, while a group of performers lined up behind him.
“The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings,” a post on its official X (formerly Twitter) page read.
The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings. #Paris2024 #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/FBlQNNUmvV
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 26, 2024
The opening, however, drew comparisons between the performance and Leonardo da Vinci’s depiction of “The Last Supper,” which marked a critical part of the Christian faith as it signified the holy communion of Christ and his love for humanity.
Amid the criticism, Rica Peralejo took to her Threads page on Sunday, July 28, to call out her fellow Christians who were outraged by the seeming resemblance, making their faith seem “unthinking and unreasonable more than ever.”
“So I am not sure how true that the Last Supper was actually the Feast of Dionysus. But to me, it sounds more like it because hello: Olympics. Olympia. Greece. Ancient Greece and Dionysus is…? Kaya pala no matter how much I look at it hindi naman Last Supper yung efek sakin (the effect doesn’t seem to follow the Last Supper for me),” she wrote.
Peralejo then reminded her fellow Christians of how they would respond to trending issues, as it might misrepresent faith as “reactionary.”
“If true talaga this, time na for the Christians to think talaga of how people can believe in us when we keep representing the faith as reactionary. Reacts before thinking. Enraged before understanding. Others then would automatically think the faith is for fools! And the saddest part is I cannot blame them,” she wrote.
Image: Screenshot from Threads/@ricaperalejo
In the replies, the actress stressed that the controversial display at the start of the Olympics, which traces its roots to the ancient and pagan Greek games on Mt. Olympus, said the “feast of the Greek Gods” do not deserve such outrage as it does not at all diminish God.
“Nevertheless, whatever their intention is, it does not [diminish] my God and deserves no attention [in my opinion]. And we can have [different] opinions and reactions to stuff,” she further added.
Screenshot from Threads/@ricaperalejo
Peralejo also agreed with one @kuyaalleennn in the replies, while reminding the latter that Christians “must be enraged about a lot of things.”
“Christians must be enraged about a lot of things, too. But one argument I saw is that why use your righteous anger for something like this but not for oppression, racism, genocide, etc. which I think has a very strong point,” she said.
Screenshots from Threads/@ricaperalejo
The actress’ post has since gathered mixed reactions from her followers.
Image: Screengrab from Threads/@ricaperalejo
Paris Olympics 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps has since apologized to Christian groups for the incident, saying the tableau was meant to be a “celebration of community tolerance,” per a Guardian report.
“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,” she was quoted as saying.