This article is a translation. You can read the original Arabic text here.
We, the Maronites, deeply devout and strongly committed to our Catholic Church, are profoundly religious and dedicated to our Christ, who was crucified and sacrificed Himself for us. We strongly condemn the organisers of the Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony for including mockery of the Christian faith and disrespecting sacred symbols. Their display of hatred and disdain for Christ and His holy beliefs, including the distortion of the Last Supper through a shameful scene involving LGBTQ+ individuals, promotes perversion and showcases the West’s weakness and complete Christian disintegration.
In response to the event’s director, the renowned French musician Thomas Jolly, who defended his choices by saying, “We live in a republic, we have the right to love who we want, and we have the right not to worship. In France, we have freedom of creativity and artistic freedom. We are fortunate to live in a free country,” we reply: Freedom has a concept and standards, rules and boundaries. If freedom is unleashed without limits, it leads to the corruption of the universe. Therefore, an individual’s freedom ends where another’s freedom begins. True freedom is respecting others and not infringing on their beliefs. It is not about desecrating others’ beliefs and mocking their doctrines. Whether you are a believer or an atheist, that is a personal matter. However, mocking someone else’s beliefs is unacceptable.
Today, France is a secular country, and freedom of religion is a constitutional right. However, this kind of irresponsible freedom is nothing but impudence and a moral decline. This is called chaotic anarchy, not freedom.
The Olympics aim to unite the world from the five continents, but they have acted contrary to their motto by dividing the world. The shock was felt worldwide, especially when such perversion and mockery of Christ originated from a country like France.
France, historically a Catholic nation, with 45,000 Catholic churches, where Christianity is the most widely practised religion. Moreover, France is the first modern state recognised by the Church and was called “the eldest daughter of the Church.” Clovis I, King of the Franks, was recognised by the papacy as the protector of Roman interests. Accordingly, the kings of France bore the title “Most Christian King.”
France is the country of Saint Joan of Arc, who was burned for her love of God; Saint Thérèse of Lisieux; Saint Catherine Labouré and the Miraculous Medal; Saint Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes; Saint Vincent de Paul, who founded the Catholic Lazarist order in Paris and helped Saint Louise de Marillac establish the Daughters of Charity, a school where I proudly received my Christian values and teachings. Maison Centrale des filles de la Charité.
France is the country of Napoleon Bonaparte, who famously said, “Jesus is not merely a man. There is no comparison between Him and any other human being in the world.” Napoleon continued to attend mass in his exile on Saint Helena.
France is the country of Charlemagne, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who laid the political and religious foundations in the Christian world in Europe and established the long historical connection between the French government and the Catholic Church.
France is the country of the writer François-René de Chateaubriand, a defender of the Christian faith in literary form and author of “Genius of Christianity,” the greatest achievement in French literary and intellectual history. The book emerged as the greatest defence of Christianity, which was under attack during the French Revolution in 1790. Chateaubriand said, “The Christian Bible surpasses the writings of Homer, and the prophets are more influential than the philosophers. What novel can compare in tenderness and impact with the life and teachings of Christ?” He also demonstrated that European civilization owes almost entirely to the Catholic Church for its support of family and school, its call for Christian virtues, and its opposition to and eradication of superstitions and incorrect practices.
Where is France today compared to all these saints and great figures? What has happened to the eldest daughter of the Church? What has France done with its great Christian heritage? France has fallen into the pit of evil and suffered a fatal fall.
We, the Maronites of Australia, along with all Christians worldwide, are proud of our Christ. We worship the Lord of the Last Supper, and we triumph through faith. Our faith can overcome all things, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against us!
