Two activists from PETA, an international animal rights organization, interrupted Pope Francis’ weekly audience at the Vatican to call for an end to bullfighting.
Before being escorted by Vatican security, the members of the organization carried slogans and banners in English and Italian, proclaiming that “bullfighting is a sin.”
According to PETA, bullfighting is a highly controversial practice in Spain, some Latin American countries, and regions in southern France and Portugal, as it involves the death of thousands of bulls each year.
However, the organization also stressed that Catholic priests still perform religious ceremonies at bullfights, in addition to receiving bullfighters inside chapels built inside the bullrings.
This protest is part of a series of motions against the practice in recent years, calling on the Argentine Pope to speak out against bullfighting.
Previously, in the 16th century, Pope Pius V banned bullfights, deeming them to be “cruel” and contrary to “Christian piety and charity.”