Cardinal Burke condemns Paris Olympics opening appearing to parody Last Supper: 'Theater of Satan'

A Catholic leader scorched a widely condemned display at the Paris Olympics as "debased and blasphemous."

Cardinal Raymond Burke of the Roman Catholic Church is the latest public figure to condemn the 2024 Paris Olympic Games' opening ceremony for allegedly parodying the Christian faith with a performance that many interpreted as mocking the iconic Leonardo da Vinci painting of Jesus and his disciples during The Last Supper.

The display featured a group of drag queens and flamboyant performers all lined up along one side of a long table, with one in a halo crown posing in the center. According to news outlet France 24, the scene’s choreographer, Thomas Jolly, has denied the allegations that he was mocking Christianity and was instead trying to show "a big pagan party linked to the gods of Olympus," but many art and religious experts remain unconvinced. 

CatholicVote reported on Wednesday that Cardinal Burke had mentioned the Opening Ceremony scene in his homily for a Mass celebrating the 16th anniversary of the dedication of the church at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on July 31. 

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"On this past Friday, we witnessed an unbelievable manifestation of the darkness and sin in our world: the abominable mockery of the Holy Eucharist at its Institution for the opening of the Summer Olympics in Paris," the Cardinal said. "It is difficult to imagine anything more debased and blasphemous."

He went on to declare, "That such an event could take place shows us, in a most painful way, how what was once a Christian culture has become the theater of Satan and those who cooperate with his thoroughly evil plans, the plans of ‘a murderer from the beginning’ who ‘has nothing to do with the truth,’ the plans of ‘a liar and the father of lies.’"

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He argued that such a display remains those of the faith that there is an ongoing conflict over morality being waged in our civilization. 

"Our disgust and anger about what happened at the Summer Olympics awakens anew our consciousness of so many other manifestations of the open rebellion against God and His plan for our salvation in the world in which we live: attacks on human life and its cradle in the family created by the marriage of a man and a woman, and attacks on religion itself and its free exercise."

Aerosmith retires from touring, Steven Tyler's voice won't make full 'recovery': 'Heartbreaking'

After over five decades, Aerosmith is retiring from touring.

On Friday, the official X account for the band announced that frontman Steven Tyler's voice has not been able to fully recover, leading them to the "heartbreaking" decision to stop performing.

"It was 1970 when a spark of inspiration became Aerosmith. Thanks to you, our Blue Army, that spark caught flame and has been burning for over five decades. Some of you have been with us since the beginning and all of you are the reason we made rock ‘n’ roll history," the lengthy statement began. 

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"It has been the honor of our lives to have our music become part of yours. In every club, on every massive tour and at moments grand and private you have given us a place in the soundtrack of your lives. We’ve always wanted to blow your mind when performing," the statement continued. 

The band then addressed the current state of Tyler's health. 

"As you know, Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other. He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury," the statement read. "We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side.

"Sadly, it is clear, that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible. We have made a heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision — as a band of brothers — to retire from the touring stage." 

"We are grateful beyond words for everyone who was pumped to get on the road with us one last time," their statement continued. "Grateful to our expert crew, our incredible team and the thousands of talented people who’ve made our historic runs possible. A final thank you to you - the best fans on planet Earth. Play our music loud, now and always. Dream On. You’ve made our dreams come true."

Fox News Digital has reached out to Aerosmith for additional comment.

In May 2023, Aerosmith announced their farewell tour, which was intended to give fans one last chance to see the band live.

At the time of the announcement, guitarist Joe Perry spoke out about the decision to retire from touring, citing the fact that all the band members are in their early to mid-70s as a big reason to give up this part of their careers.

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"I think it’s about time," he simply said.

The group, currently consisting of Perry, Tyler, Brad Whitford, Joey Kramer and Tom Hamilton, has been together since 1970, and in those 53 years, they've released hits like "Janie's Got a Gun," "Crazy" and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing."

They performed those songs and more in their Las Vegas residency that finished last year, and Perry suggested that they'd pull some of the production value from the residency to use in the upcoming tour.

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"It’s kind of a chance to celebrate the 50 years we’ve been out here," Perry said. "You never know how much longer everybody’s going to be healthy to do this.… It’s been a while since we’ve actually done a real tour. We did that run in Vegas, which was great. It was fun, but (we're) kind of anxious to get back on the road."

In a statement to The Associated Press at the time, Tyler said, "We’re opening up Pandora’s Box one last time to present our fans with the Peace Out tour. Be there or beware as we bring all the toys out of the attic. Get ready."

Although both Perry and Tyler referred to the upcoming tour as a farewell, Tyler did add, "It’s the final farewell tour, but I have a feeling it will go on for a while. But I don’t know how many times we’ll be coming back to the same cities. It could very possibly be the last time."

Fox News Digital's Emily Trainham contributed to this report.