Finally, after more than a week, Pope Francis — who is notorious for urging “caution” against any free speech or expression that mocks Islam — on Aug. 3 issued a brief, perfunctory, and rather lukewarm condemnation of the pagan, pedophilic mockery of Christ that regaled the opening ceremony of the summer Olympics.

And lest you think this half-hearted condemnation was motivated by a sincere desire to protect Christianity, it appears that even this comes in response to pleasing Muslim sensibilities.

Background: On July 26, during the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris, several men in drag struck poses behind a long table, at the center of which was an overweight woman in a low-cut dress wearing a large silver headdress — reminiscent of the halo behind Jesus’s head in many artistic depictions of the Last Supper.

A Miracle

While many are already aware of these central facts, apparently the mockery was even more depraved than first thought, with apparent elements of pedophilia: “At one point, a testicle of a man wearing short black hotpants was exposed while a little girl stood in front of him, in front of what was supposed to be the table.”

Many Christian groups vocally condemned what was a very obvious act of mockery against Christianity. As part of its damage control, Olympic spokespeople claimed the scene was meant to be a pagan depiction of Dionysus, not the Last Supper, even as “some performers themselves stated in social media posts and in comments to French media that they had, in fact, intended to imitate the Last Supper.”

But as Christians the world over condemned the incident — including many Catholic leaders, such as Bishop Robert Barron, the French Bishops Conference, two Vatican officials, the archbishop of Malta, and many others — Pope Francis was conspicuously silent. For eight days, and while many Catholics, including Vatican officials, were urging him to say something — anything — Francis refused to condemn or even address the blasphemy committed against his (nominal) Lord.

Then a miracle happened. Last Thursday, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the self-styled neo-Ottoman sultan, picked up the phone, called Francis, and told him to condemn the “ridicule” of moral and religious values at the Olympic opening ceremony.

No Other Way to Read This

As with many biblical figures, Islam has also appropriated Jesus as one of its “prophets,” though this “Islamic Jesus” — “Isa” —has little in common with the biblical Christ: while sinless, born of a virgin, and a miracle-worker, “Isa” is not the Son of God, nor was he crucified, buried, or resurrected.

At any rate, two days after Erdoğan’s call, Francis issued the following tepid statement:

The Holy See is saddened by some scenes of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices that have been raised in recent days to deplore the offence done to many Christians and believers of other religions [emphasis added].

As no other religion claims Jesus but Islam, Francis’s “offence done to … believers of other religions” is an obvious reference to Muslims. That is, it is further evidence of Erdoğan’s role in getting Francis to move.

Coptic Believers Respond

Perhaps that is why the brief statement is also so weak? As a good dhimmi, Francis did what he needed to do to please his Muslim overlord, but the sappy wording—“the Holy See is saddened”— leaves much to be desired, as does the rest of the statement:

In a prestigious event where the whole world comes together around common values, there should be no allusions that ridicule the religious convictions of many people. Freedom of expression, which is obviously not called into question, finds its limit in respect for others.

At no point in the statement does Francis even manage to clearly define the problem — that the Olympic ceremony mocked the Last Supper — and the only time he mentions the victims of the mockery, he conflates them with “believers of other religions.”

Compare and contrast this with, say, the unequivocal condemnation issued by the Coptic Orthodox Church,

We express our profound dismay and condemnation over the recent portrayal of the Last Supper during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. This depiction, which featured a parody led by drag performers, has deeply offended Christians worldwide.

The Last Supper was a sacred moment in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ exemplifying His ultimate sacrifice and love for humanity. To see it mocked in such a public and disrespectful manner is not only disheartening but also undermines the spirit of unity, inclusion, solidarity, and respect that the Olympics aim to promote.

We call upon the organizers of the Olympics and all involved parties to offer a sincere apology to the Christian community and to take steps to ensure that such disrespectful actions are not repeated in the future.

We Did Expect a Punch, Actually

Indeed, compare and contrast Francis’s effete statement in “defense” of Christianity with his words when Muslim sensibilities are offended. Nearly a decade ago, when Muslims murdered a dozen people at the Paris-based Charlie Hebdo office because the satirical magazine had mocked the prophet of Islam, Francis, rather than being silent, came out strongly in defense of the Muslims:

“If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch,” Francis said during a 2015 interview, while pretending to throw a punch at Gasparri, who was standing beside him. “It’s normal,” he added. “You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.”

Do you think he would offer this rationalization if Christians stormed the Olympic organizers’ offices and killed those involved in the mockery of the Last Supper?

Neither do I.

Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West and Sword and Scimitar, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.