Badejo urges Africans not to disrespect religious symbols, sentiments

By Chidinma Ewunonu-Aluko

The Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Oyo, Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo, has advised Africans never to disrespect people’s religious symbols and sentiments regardless of what they go through.

Badejo said this in a statement on Tuesday in Ibadan.

Badejo said Africans should always respect people’s religious sentiments which he said could touch them at the deepest levels of their being.

According to the Catholic bishop, to disrespect religious symbols or sentiments is to throw humanising and spiritual values and ideals to the dogs.

“The religious depictions of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting with contemporary ideological figures at the  opening ceremony of the Olympics are clearly offensive to Christianity.

"To say the least, it's shocking and disrespectful.

“Sadly it is a perpetration of deliberate ongoing attempts in Europe and America to repurpose and cheapen Christian themes, without regard for peace loving Christians who practice and profess their religion in peace.

“That this decadent caricature of one of the most cherished events of Christianity is publisised  in France with a rich and old Christian heritage at the Olympic Games detracts from the status of the event.

“Also, it belies all claims to enduring civility and respect for freedom of religion in the West,” he said.

NAN reports that there was a ‘last supper’ depiction at the 2024 Paris Olympic opening, which many Christian groups condemned.

Many say the Olympic opening drew significant backlash for its depiction of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper” with a “drag queen” performance.

Many Christian bodies condemned it, describing it as disrespectful to religious beliefs.

Badejo said Christians should exercise their right of outrage and boycott to the extent that the damage already caused could be mitigated, and redressed while future occurrences are prevented.

“Governing bodies and organisations should take full responsibility for accommodating such insulting, tasteless art and expressions that can potentially cause further hurt and division in our already hurting and fractured world.

“Huge thanks to all who correctly expressed outrage on the subject well ahead of this.

“Regardless of what we go through as Africans, we must never disrespect or thrash religious symbols and sentiments which touch people at their deepest levels of their being.

“To do this is to throw our humanising and spiritual values and ideals to the dogs,” Badejo stressed.(NAN)