(LifeSiteNews) — A Brazilian competitor at the Paris Olympics was reportedly told that he could not have an image of Christ the Redeemer on his surfboard.
23-year-old João Chianca apparently informed his followers on his Instagram account recently that the Olympics demanded he remove the image or else he would not be allowed to participate.
“Just received the news that [the] painting is not authorized at the Olympic Games because Christ is a religious figure, and the Games have strict rules and focus on total neutrality,” he allegedly said in a since-deleted post, according to The Sydney Morning Herald journalist Dan Walsh.
Article 50 of the Olympic Charter says “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
It also stipulates that “no form of publicity or propaganda, commercial or otherwise, may appear on persons, on sportswear, accessories or, more generally, on any article of clothing or equipment whatsoever worn or used by all competitors, team officials, other team personnel.”
LifeSiteNews reached out to Walsh, who lives in Australia and seems to be the only reputable English-speaking reporter who has gone on record with Chianca’s alleged post.
In his July 19 article, Walsh said he reached out to Chianca, the International Olympic Committee, and Paris 2024 organizers for comment on the matter but that “no one [is] willing to speak to or clarify Chianca’s claims regarding his boards.”
LifeSite received an automated response from Walsh on Monday stating that he is on strike and not currently at his desk.
Social media users were furious over the purported decision.
“So this 23-year-old Brazilian surfer could not use his Christ the Redeemer surfboards because they violate Olympic rules. But mocking and blaspheming Christianity is permitted in Opening Ceremonies? Got it,” Catholic media figure Raymond Arroyo said on X.
So this 23 year old Brazilian surfer could not use his Christ the Redeemer surfboards because they violate Olympic rules. But mocking and blaspheming Christianity is permitted in Opening Ceremonies? Got it. Article 50 of Olympic Charter: “no type of political, religious or… pic.twitter.com/rtYmGDqlOP
— Raymond Arroyo (@RaymondArroyo) July 27, 2024
Former ESPN and NBC sports reporter Michele Tafoya recalled that when the Olympics were held in Brazil eight years ago, they heavily incorporated the nearly 100-foot-tall statue into its marketing plan.
“Christ the Redeemer is an iconic symbol of Brazil,” she said. “It was nearly impossible to visit during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. It was prominent in the ‘beauty shots’ televised worldwide during the games. Let him surf with the boards!”
Christ the Redeemer is an iconic symbol of Brazil. It was nearly impossible to visit during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. It was prominent in the “beauty shots” televised worldwide during the games. Let him surf with the boards! https://t.co/UAsZXTilHU
— Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) July 28, 2024
X user “Died Suddenly” also drew attention to what he called the “anti-Christian” message the Olympics is sending.
The opening ceremony wasn’t the only anti-Christian message sent to the world by the Olympic committee.
Two weeks before the games, Brazilian surfer Joao Chianca was ordered to remove the image of Jesus Christ from his surfboard, or be barred from competing.
Chianca commented… pic.twitter.com/FSZdAPTUOY
— DiedSuddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) July 27, 2024
Christians as well as non-Christians around the world have condemned the Olympics for its blasphemous depiction of Christ and his apostles at the Last Supper.
Former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, called it “the latest in a long series of vile attacks on God, the Catholic Religion and natural Morality by the antichristic elite that holds Western countries hostage.”
Abp @CarloMVigano responds to #OlympicsOpeningCeremony:
It must be made clear that the patience and forbearance of the faithful & of citizens have been exhausted, that it is no longer time to “deplore” but to act, even and especially when civil & religious authority are… https://t.co/3zcCNGE6E8 pic.twitter.com/xve9EEaliy— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) July 28, 2024
German Cardinal Gerhard Müller described it as “an act of spiritual terrorism.”
Cardinal Müller to @Infovaticana on #Olympics2024 opening ceremony:
“The mockery of the Last Supper by spiritually uprooted & mentally disturbed actors, their instigators & sponsors was an act of spiritual terrorism that turned against their authors.”
Report on @LifeSite pic.twitter.com/wS8nF8b4LA— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) July 29, 2024
U.S. Bishop Robert Barron likewise called it a “gross mockery of the Last Supper” while noting that the Olympics wouldn’t dare mock Islam in a similar way.
Friends, my thoughts on the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. #Olimpiadas2024 #OlympicGames pic.twitter.com/xU1ljFMZft
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) July 27, 2024
Pope Francis has yet to condemn the opening ceremony, which was organized by a homosexual man named Thomas Jolly.
Jolly previously told British Vogue that he wanted to make sure “everyone feels represented” in the ceremony.
On Saturday, Chianca won heat #5 of the first round of the men’s surfing competition, where he beat Ramzi Boukhaim of Morocco and Billy Stairmand of New Zealand. Chianca sustained a near life-ending injury in December in Hawaii last year that knocked him unconscious and sent him to the hospital. At the time, he was the world’s fourth ranked surfer.