An Olympic athlete was given a choice: either remove an image of Jesus Christ from his surf board or be banned from the competition.
Joao Chianca, a Brazilian surfer, is also a Christian. The 23-year-old’s boards are adorned with an image of the iconic “Christ the Redeemer” statue.
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.”
In a now-deleted Instagram story he revealed that Olympic organizers told him that he was not authorized to have Jesus on his board because “Christ is a religious figure” and the “games have strict rules and focus on total neutrality.”
“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 wrote, according to The Sydney Morning Herald journalist Dan Walsh.
So, the Paris Games allowed pagans and perverts to mock the Christian faith during the Opening Ceremony, but athletes are forbidden from sharing their faith during the Games?
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!”