VATICAN CITY -- The Holy See has issued a delayed statement saying it was “saddened” by the scenes at the Olympic opening ceremony, a week after the games began in Paris. 

  In a note released on Saturday the Holy See, expressed that it was “saddened by certain scenes during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and can only join the voices that have been raised in recent days to deplore the offence caused to many Christians and believers of other religions.”

  “At a prestigious event where the whole world comes together to share common values, there should be no allusions ridiculing the religious convictions of many people.”

  “The freedom of expression, which is clearly not called into question here, is limited by respect for others.” 

  The statement comes in response to a specific scene in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, which featured various performers from Drag Race France, and French DJ and activist, Barbara Butch, in what many believed to be a parody of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper.

  Thomas Jolly, the director of the opening ceremony, insisted that the scene was not a recreation of the religious painting, which depicts Christ with his 12 Apostles, but rather that he was paying homage to Greek mythology and the feast of Dionysus.

  In the week following the opening ceremony, Jolly has received death threats and online attacks, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office said. Butch’s lawyer also explained that the DJ was threatened with death, torture, and rape, and has also been the target of numerous antisemitic, homophobic, sexist, and grossophobic insults”.

 lw