For a secular country hosting the 33rd Olympic Games, France finds itself dealing with religion dominating the headlines. The controversial tableau in the rain-swept opening ceremony depicting the Last Supper (or was it the Festival of Dionysius) with drag queens and a woman comedian wearing a crown, widely seen as representing Jesus, caused anger among the French Catholic bishops and conservative Christians across the globe.
Then there was the silver for British swimmer Adam Peaty, who recovered his Olympics spirit with the help of a Christian spiritual adviser – the Olympics has more than 100 chaplains from five world religions. And there is continuing disquiet among French female athletes forbidden from wearing the hijab.
In this briefing, our panel discusses all these stories and what they say about the understanding of laïcité – the separation of church and state – in France.
Ruth Peacock hosted with a panel:
- Dr Graham Daniels, General Director, Christians in Sport
- Carolyn Skinner, Sports Chaplaincy UK
- Elise Ann Allen, Senior Correspondent for Crux in Rome
- Catherine Pepinster, journalist in the UK
- Prof Jocelyne Cesari, French political scientist and Islamic studies scholar
- Dr Jenny Uzzell, researcher on pagan studies
- Rev Robert Thompson, on The Last Supper
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