Erdoğan calls on the Pope to condemn blasphemy at the Olympics

Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Pope Francis. Photo: bta.bg

On August 1, Turkish President Recep Erdoğan had a telephone conversation with Pope Francis. According to Erdoğan's office, one of the topics of discussion was the anti-Christian scenes during the opening of the Olympics on Friday, July 26. This was reported on the President's Office's X account.

During the conversation with the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Turkish President urged Muslims and Christians to act together against "immoral displays" similar to those at the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris. In his opinion, under the "guise of freedom of speech and tolerance", human dignity is trampled upon, and religious and moral values are ridiculed. President Erdoğan warned that this offends Muslims as much as the Christian world.

According to the President's administration, "challenging the religious values and spreading perverse propaganda during the Olympic Games, which are actually held to unite the humanity, act as an alarm bell against the moral decay the world is drifting to." 

The message states that Pope Francis thanked Erdogan for his efforts to establish peace and for his "sensitivity against the desecration of religious values."

However, as of the end of the day on August 2, the Vatican has not confirmed the telephone conversation between Francis and Erdoğan. There is no mention of the conversation with the Turkish President on the official website. Concurrently, Pope Francis sent a greeting to the participants of the Outreach conference for LGBTQ Catholics, which is being held at Georgetown University in Washington, assuring them of his "prayerful proximity".

As the UOJ previously reported, French queer artists stated that they were specifically parodying 'The Last Supper'.

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