Candace Cameron Bure is speaking out against the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics.
“So to watch such an incredible and wonderful event that’s gonna take place over the next two weeks and see the opening ceremonies completely blaspheme and mock the Christian faith with their interpretation of the Last Supper was disgusting,” the Full House and Fuller House alum said.
Bure, a devout Christian, expressed her displeasure with a portion of the opening ceremony that appeared to represent Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper.
The actress, who shared her thoughts on Instagram, said while she has respect for the Olympics because she knows several Olympic athletes, this year it made her “so sad.”
“And someone said, ‘You shouldn’t be sad. You should be mad about it.’ And I’m like, ‘Trust me. It makes me mad.’ But I’m more sad, because I’m sad for souls.”
“So this is my encouragement to you,” she said. “Don’t get tired of doing good. Keep sharing the gospel. And it’s not just for the people that like openly mock God. There’s so many people – there’s Christians out there that say, ‘Well I’m a Christian, it didn’t really bother me.’ Those people need to hear the gospel too. It’s the ones that are lukewarm about it that may think like, ‘Ah – I don’t want to ruffle any feathers. Live and let live. Let people do what they want. I’m just gonna stay in my corner and be quiet about it.’”
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Since sharing her thoughts, Bure acknowledged that many people have attempted to correct her interpretation of the opening ceremony, but she did not believe it.
“I still don’t see how that relates to unifying the world through competitive sports and how it is acceptable for children to watch. In any case, I’m not buying it. I hope you’ll listen all the way through. God loves each and every one of you and His desire is for you to know Him.”
Since the backlash, Thomas Jolly, the artistic director for the ceremony, explained to French news channel BFM TV there was never any desire to mock and denigrate anyone.
“There is Dionysus who arrives on this table. He is there because he is the god of celebration in Greek mythology Jolly said, according to NBC. “The idea was to have a pagan celebration connected to the gods of Olympus. You will never find in me a desire to mock and denigrate anyone.”=
Anne Descamps, a spokesperson for the 2024 Paris Olympics, was forced to apologize to those who took offense to the image.
Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think that Thomas Jolly really tried to celebrate community tolerance,” Descamps said at a press conference on Saturday. “We believe that this ambition was achieved.”
“If people have taken any offense, we are of course really sorry,” she said.