Candace Cameron Bure slams 'disgusting' Olympic opening ceremony amid 'Last Supper' backlash

Candace Cameron Bure expressed outrage over a scene from the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics, which she said blasphemed and mocked the Christian faith due to its "interpretation of the Last Supper."

The former "Full House" actor posted a lengthy video on Instagram on July 28 addressing her thoughts on the opening ceremony.

"So I didn't really want to weigh in on the Olympics opening ceremony publicly because I always risk of becoming a headline, but it felt too important not to," she said.

Bure, 48, said she loved the Olympics, noting that her husband, former Montreal Canadiens player Valeri Bure, and other members of his family have won medals at the Games.

"The Olympic Games have always brought me so much joy. It's the best of the best athletes in the world competing for the title," she said. "So to watch such an incredible and wonderful event that's going to take place over the next two weeks, and see the opening ceremony completely blaspheme and mock the Christian faith with their interpretation of 'The Last Supper' was disgusting."

"And it made me so sad," she continued. "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."

Bure joined in the backlash to a scene from the opening ceremony on July 26, in which a dinner platter lifted to reveal a mostly nude man who was painted blue, as dancers and drag queens struck poses along a long table in the background.

The Olympic Games posted photos of the scene on X.

“The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings,” the post's caption read.

French actor Philippe Katerine portrayed Dionysus, the god of wine-making, fruitfulness and ecstasy.

Some critics compared the tableau to the biblical scene Leonardo da Vinci portrayed in his famous painting, "The Last Supper," in which Jesus Christ and his apostles were depicted sharing a final meal before the crucifixion.

Olympic organizers have denied that "The Last Supper" was an inspiration for the short scene during the four-hour ceremony.

Thomas Jolly, the ceremony's artistic director, said at a July 27 press conference he did not intend “to be subversive,” “mock” or “shock.”

“We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that,” he said. “In France, we have freedom of creation, artistic freedom. We are lucky in France to live in a free country. I didn’t have any specific messages that I wanted to deliver. In France, we are republic, we have the right to love whom we want, we have the right not to be worshippers, we have a lot of rights in France, and this is what I wanted to convey.”

Jolly added in an interview with French news outlet BFM-TV on July 28: "There is Dionysus who arrives on this table. He is there because he is the God of celebration in Greek mythology.

"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."

Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps apologized during a press conference on July 28 "if people have taken any offense."

“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think that (artistic director) Thomas Jolly really tried to celebrate community tolerance,” Descamps said. “We believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry.”

Catholic leaders in France called the scene a "mockery of Christianity" in a statement, according to Reuters.

"This ceremony has unfortunately included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we very deeply deplore," the Conference of French bishops said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called the image "shocking"and "insulting" in a post on X, while Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker quoted a Bible verse as he shared a clip of the Opening Ceremony scene on X.

Bure read several Bible verses in her video and encouraged followers of the Christian faith to speak out against the ceremony.

"There's Christians out there that say, 'Well, I'm a Christian, and 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, '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. Maybe I'm afraid of confrontation.' Like, it's not the time, man," she said.

Bure added that she is still planning to watch the games, but said she understood that others may want to start boycotting the Olympics.

"As far as the games go, do what you want to do. You want to boycott? Boycott the games. I'm going to watch the games. I want to support our athletes," she said. "There are a lot of great Christian athletes competing as well, but I want to cheer them on. I want to see God getting the glory."

"I'm going to watch — there's a lot of people, these athletes, have dedicated not just the last four years but their entire lives to compete in these games that had nothing to do with that opening ceremony," she continued. "So I want to support them. But if you feel a conviction not to watch, then don't."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com