Paris Olympics closing ceremony sparks more anti-Christian fury as viewers fume at 'demonic' feature: 'Mockery!'

However, similar to the tournament's opening extravaganza, the closing ceremony was unable to run without coming under scrutiny for its symbolism.

A little over two weeks ago, the opening ceremony had been widely condemned by religious groups for "mocking" Christianity with a parody of the Last Supper that included trans and drag performers.

For the closing ceremony, the main performance was spearheaded by a so-called Golden Voyager scouring a lifeless, desolate earth.

Along his way, the Golden Voyager stumbled across the goddess Nike as well as hoards of acrobatic performers - or followers - who seemingly brought life back to the earth.

In the UK, BBC commentator Andrew Cotter explained when the performance kicked off: "The Golden Voyager descends to an earth that is now dark and deserted."

And late when Nike appeared, Hazel Irvine said: "Now our Golden Voyager meets the goddess, Nike.

"The goddess of victory associated with the ancient games, she takes the shape of one of the most famous and iconic exhibits in the Louvre Museum."

But despite the explanation, many felt the symbolism of using a headless angel-winged figure alongside an unidentifiable protagonist and hoards of unidentifiable followers came across as "demonic" - with some even branding it "satanic garbage".

On X, one fan raged: "Soooo the #Olympics started with a mockery of The Last Supper… and ends with a Headless Angel…These People are Demonic. This is Evil. What a kick in that face to the athletes who trained their whole lives to be here."

Another echoed: "What the satanic bunch of bulls**t garbage is this? Why would anybody watch this garbage? Someone said she’s supposed to be a bee over a hive of workers? Uhh then make it look like an actual (bee) @Paris2024 pure garbage, nothing else #Olympics."

"2024 #Olympics Closing Ceremony: Beheaded white angel—performances remain just as shocking... as demonic as the opening ceremony," a third weighed in.

While a fourth also wasn't impressed with the appearance of Nike: "Soooo, an Angel w/it’s head cut off symbolizes victory? Ok… Seems rather demonic. #Olympics."

Complaints continued to pour in from a fifth who hit out: "The #Olympics opened up by mocking the Christian faith with disgraceful and disgusting recreation of the Last Supper. They’re doubling down and closing out with a dark and satanic closing ceremony. The Olympics are supposed to be uplifting. This is not."

And a sixth surmised: "The #Olympics opened by mocking Christianity. It ended with a satanic ritual."

However, there were some who jumped to the ceremony's defence, with one keen to point out: "It's the Nike of Samothrace. It's in the Louvre. It's weird to show it like this. Why not as the statue was originally fully formed? The wings are not big enough even so."

And others lauded the performance as a whole, including another who commented: "This closing ceremony of the #OlympicGames has been everything that the opening ceremony wasn't. All told, a phenomenal Olympics that comfortably sits in the top 5 of all time #bbcolympics." (sic)

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The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are over.
Thank you 🥹

📸 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/2LaUDNnqjd

— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) August 11, 2024

The criticism comes after Olympics organisers issued an apology for the offence caused by the Last Supper parody during the opening event last month.

Several religious groups openly criticised the display, including the Vatican which said: "The Holy See was saddened by certain scenes at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices raised in recent days to deplore the offense done 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 Vatican added.

Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps addressed the backlash soon after, telling the media: "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 offence we are really sorry."