Erika Kirk: 'I Forgive Him'
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The mockery of the Last Supper was really bad but to those of us who have been paying attention it was not a surprise. Wokeism is inherently anti-Catholic. The display before 29 million tv viewers was against everything that the iconic Last Supper scene in the upper room represents, which is more than just the Last Supper.
It was a multi-pronged assault against sacred art, Jesus, the apostles, the priesthood and the Eucharist. To a lesser extent it was an attack on the sacrament of Reconciliation which was instituted in the upper room. Finally, it was an attack on the Holy Spirit, the apostles and Mary who awaited the birth of the Church in the same upper room where the Pentecost event took place.
The messaging was very overt and in the open. It wasn't just symbolic of what could be, it was a sign of what already has been. What was expected to be a celebration of athletic competition turned into a celebration of the de-Christianization of Europe. More importantly, we should take this as a warning of the intent to renew a sytematic and potentially violent pogrom against the Church in France and Europe as a whole.
Beware Catholics and other Christians, what they mock and invert today, they will attack and kill tomorrow. This pattern has already been established in French history.
Their mockery of the Last Supper is easy to point out but what is not so easy to see is the deeper, historical anti-Catholic messaging in the portrayal of Marie Antoinette holding her own severed head. The head that was lopped off during the Reign of Terror by the most extremely anti-Catholic revolutionaries was once attached to her body when she was imprisoned in the building just behind the opening ceremony’s heavy metal performance. French Revolution symbolism was embedded throughout the performance of a song called, ‘Ah! Ça Ira’ (It'll Be Fine) sung by a heavy metal band that goes by the name Gojira (Godzilla).
Some of the lyrics to this historical revolutionary song, ‘Ah! Ca Ira’ are as follows, "It'll be okay, be okay, be okay, Hang the aristocrats from on high! It'll be okay, be okay, be okay, The aristocrats, we'll hang 'em all. Despotism will breathe its last, Liberty will take the day. We don't have any more nobles or priests".
Gojira’s frontman said, "It was a very bloody era of French history," he told the New York Times of the French Revolution ahead of the Opening Ceremony, "so it was very metal." In other words, his music is about violence, death and destruction of the good, the beautiful and the true. So in other words, it's evil.
With that song performed at that location, in conjunction with the demonic Marie Antoinette severed head scene…Make no mistake… on a world stage, the transnational, woke bullies who organized the opening ceremony were celebrating ruthless and systematic de-Christianization. This was a bloody tribute to the political regime which once had as its aim the termination of Catholic religious practice and of the religion itself through land seizure, the criminalization of religious worship, looting of and vandalism of churches, and the murder of Catholics.
During the 'Reign of Terror', 30,000 priests and religious were exiled and thousands killed.The old French Revolution era of De-Christianization waged against Catholicism specifically included…
Was the opening ceremony a warning to the shrinking remnant of Catholics in Europe or was it an ‘in your face’ celebration of what has already been accomplished? Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. In fact, we have already seen the emergence of a newer De-Christianization in France and Europe as a whole…
According to Pew Research, in 1910, 65% of all Catholics lived in Europe. But a century later, in 2010, the share of the world’s Catholics living in Europe dropped to 24%. Latin America now hosts more Catholics (39%) than Europe or any other region, with sizable shares also in sub-Saharan Africa (16%) and the Asia-Pacific region (12%). A separate 2019 survey found that only 48% of the French population identified as Catholic. (https://www.catholicnewsagency.com)
Beginning with the conversion to Christianity of Clovis I in 459 AD, the Catholic Church had been the official state religion of France. This is why France is called "the eldest daughter of the Church". The kings of France were given the title, "His Most Christian Majesty". Yep, France was once more Catholic than Poland. In fact, the nation of France is ranked fourth in the world when it comes to the total number of saints and blesseds with 1,376. Of that total, 656 died as martyrs. But an astonishing 720 French Catholics have been acclaimed as saints or blesseds yet did not die as martyrs (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2023/05/30/saints-by-the-numbers-france/).
France may never recover her Catholic identity but her legacy remains. Her holiest country men and women, now in heaven, still love their France. They would have been horrified and angered by what we are seeing today. There are many notable French saints who could teach us a thing or two about resisting and pushing back against the wicked advocates of De-Christianization.
What can we do? We can note what parts of the Faith are being openly attacked and commit to increasing our knowledge and outward devotion to those things (ie. Eucharist, Reconciliation, honoring priesthood, Mary, apostles, reverencing holy places and holy things). For those who are currently experiencing righteous anger, here is a litany of joyful, spiritual-warrior Saints (all of them French), to call upon as we muster the courage to resist and expose those who hate our Catholic Faith…
I am a life-long Catholic, husband, dad, teacher and former football coach. I've been teaching the Catholic Faith to young men, religious educators and catechists since 1998. My academic background, MA is in Theology and Catechetics. Email: gary@apexcatechetics.com
