The opening ceremony took place on Friday, July 26 and saw an array of performances which included Limerick athlete Sarah Lavin alongside golfer Shane Lowry as flag bearers representing Ireland.
As well as the flag bearers on the River Seine and performances from Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, French dancers and drag queens also took centre stage - some of which caused a stir.
Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan who was raised in Limerick, is a former parish priest of Rathkeale and is now bishop of Waterford and Lismore. He labelled the Last Supper scene “utterly sad”.
“Just a short while ago, I had a look at the opening ceremony of the Olympics and while there were many good things about it, we saw some very sad and unfortunate things.
“We saw a parody of the Last Supper with a drag act and towards the end of this particular act there was a man, almost naked, singing on what was the table of the Last Supper or if you will, the altar.
“One could only describe it as grotesque and a blasphemy, a mockery of our Chritsian faith and how utterly sad that is.”
Organisers have since issued an apology to Christians for the Last Supper parody, saying they were “really sorry”.
However, Bishop ‘Phonsie’ as he is known, criticised more than just that one parody scene.
He said: “I have to say too that some of the dancing was totally without grace or beauty. I just wonder why. Why is there a need to make a mockery of something which is sacred?
“I am writing to the French ambassador. We should try to drown evil in an abundance of good.”
The parody of the biblical scene was allegedly intended to “interpret Dionysus” and raise awareness “of the absurdity of violence between human beings”, organisers wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The committee apologised after the performance caused outrage among Catholics, Christian groups and politicians around the world.
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,” said the Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps.
“[The opening ceremony] tried to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence, we are really sorry.”