During Pope Francis’ weekly audience at the Vatican on Wednesday, animal rights activists briefly disrupted the event by holding up signs advocating for an end to bullfighting.
Two activists from PETA, an international charity dedicated to animal rights, shouted slogans at the beginning of the audience before being removed from the premises.
After a brief detention by Vatican security and Italian police, the activists were released, as reported by PETA.
The signs they displayed read “Bullfighting is a sin” in both English and Italian, while their T-shirts conveyed the message “Stop blessing corridas.”
Bullfights, known as “corridas,” are a controversial tradition practiced in Spain, several Latin American countries, southern France, and Portugal.
PETA reports that thousands of bulls are killed in bullrings worldwide each year.
This protest is one of many that have occurred in recent years, urging the Argentinian pope to take a stand against bullfighting. In a 2015 document, Pope Francis stated that “every act of cruelty towards any creature is ‘contrary to human dignity’.”
In the 16th century, Pope Pius V banned bullfights, deeming them “cruel” and against “Christian piety and charity.”
Despite the ban, Catholic priests still participate in religious ceremonies at bullfights and provide spiritual support to bullfighters in chapels within the arenas, according to PETA.
Although considered a cultural tradition in Spain, bullfighting is a violent sport involving provoking and stabbing the bull before killing it.
The bull is first lanced in the neck by men on horseback, followed by attempts to plant sharp sticks in its shoulders by others.
The matador then engages with the weakened bull, taunting it with a cape before delivering a fatal sword thrust between the shoulders to kill it.
It often takes multiple attempts to finally achieve the death of the animal.
Last month, Colombia’s president signed a law prohibiting bullfighting, which will be enforced starting in 2027.
Other Latin American countries that have banned bullfighting include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, and Uruguay.
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