(Editor’s Note: Fr. Seamus P. Finn, OMI, Director of USA JPIC and OIP shares a letter he received from the president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation reflecting on some controversial elements in the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics)

DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) has been an important part of the ICCR (Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility) mission in recent years. It has been indeed engaging to read different responses to the opening ceremony at the Olympics. I like Brian Grim’s reflection found here: https://bit.ly/3ykjvgT

I have given two presentations at the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation that seeks to bring the values and a religious message to the G20 meetings in recent years. They continue to labor in what some would say is a very secular and unreceptive audience, but they persist, and I like the direction they are leading us.

-Seamus P. Finn, OMI

READ FULL LETTER

Dear Seamus Finn,

A performance during the Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics triggered a backlash as many saw a sketch meant to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as being offensive and biased. Many took the sketch to be a parody of the Last Supper of Christ, which organizers denied being the intent.

Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps apologized on Sunday for those offended by the scene. “Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think (with) Thomas Jolly [the ceremony’s artistic director], we really did try to celebrate community tolerance,” Descamps said. “… If people have taken any offense, we are, of course, really, really sorry.”

Jolly said that religious subversion had never been his intention. “We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that.”

However, rather than being avant-garde and inclusive, the Olympic organizers appear to be behind the curve when it comes to DEI — what they purportedly were trying to promote. The latest data show a significant surge in Fortune 500 companies including religion as part of their DEI initiatives, which helps them avoid such offensive and COSTLY mistakes (one Olympic sponsor has already withdrawn in reaction to the sketch). READ FULL LETTER