Bulgarian Church on Olympics: Without faith in Christ, Europe has no future

Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Photo: bg-patriarshia.bg

On July 30, 2024, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church published a statement regarding the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, calling the "artistic images presented" not only "vulgar and tasteless" but "provocatively discriminatory and offensive to believing Christians." "We cannot accept and remain silent about this," the official website of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church reports the Synod's statement.

"A few days ago, the entire Christian world was bewildered, scandalized, and offended by the performance at the opening of the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games in France. The artistic images presented – regardless of the motives stated by the organizers – are contrary and completely incompatible not only with Christian gospel morality, Christian spiritual life, but also with common sense, natural human rights, centuries-old European aesthetic criteria, and the classical ideal of beauty – 'a sound mind in a sound body', which is embodied in the idea of the Olympic Games. Vulgarity and ideological gaudiness are only part of the problem. Much more important remains the issue of the provocative, discriminatory, and offensive attitude towards believing Christians, which we cannot accept and remain silent about. On this matter, Christ is categorical: 'If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come' (Matthew 18:6-7)," the document states.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church noted that the many critical voices that have been heard for several days indicate that Christian Europe is alive, and attempts to de-Christianize and dehumanize it will not succeed.

"The path of our people is the European path, but we stand for a Christian Europe; for a Europe that respects and honors its history and roots. We are convinced that without true, living faith in Christ and eternal Christian values, Europe has no and cannot have a future," emphasized the Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote about French Cartholic bishops' response to blasphemy at the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

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