Urge Pope Leo XIV to End Bull Torture during Catholic Celebrations

PETA is urging Pope Leo XIV to take a stand against bullfights. An overwhelming majority of humans want to see an end to bull “fighting—misleadingly named because the unwilling bull stands no chance of coming out alive—yet tens of thousands of bulls are being tormented and violently killed in bullrings and during local festivals every year. These gruesome spectacles are often held in honour of Catholic saints or during holy Christian celebrations, and many Catholic priests are actively involved in promoting this vile industry.

The Catholic Church and ‘Bullfighting’

Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical Laudato Si’, “Every act of cruelty towards any animal is ‘contrary to human dignity’. As far back as the 16th century, Pope Pius V banned bullfighting, which he described as “cruel and base spectacles of the devil and not of man” and contrary to “Christian piety and charity.” Paragraph #2418 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that humans should not “cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.” Yet, Catholic priests often officiate at religious ceremonies in bullrings and minister to bullfighters in arena chapels. Some even attack bulls in arenas themselves.

Bull Torture Is Unchristian

“Bullfighting” is an un-Christian, bloody spectacle that involves wilfully inflicting pain and trauma on God’s creatures. The bulls are subjected to a prolonged, agonising death by being repeatedly stabbed before they are killed by a sword thrust into their heart or a dagger to the spinal cord. This ritualised slaughter couldn’t be further removed from Christ’s teachings of love and mercy for all living beings. As a custodian of the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church must take a stand against this violence by ending its support for these vile spectacles.

Sign the Petition

Please sign the petition to Pope Leo XIV, the head of the Catholic Church, urging him to end the Church’s complicity in bullfighting—a blood sport that has no place in Christian celebrations.

Most Holy Father:

We urge you to denounce cruel and un-Christian bullfighting, and to end the Catholic Church’s support for it. In doing so, you would honour the legacy of Pope Francis, who, given more time, would surely have taken this compassionate step. God’s creations shouldn’t be subjected to prolonged suffering and stabbed to death in the name of Catholic saints or during holy Christian celebrations, and members of the Catholic clergy shouldn’t support the torture of animals.

As Pope Francis declared in the 2015 Laudato Si’, “Every act of cruelty towards any animal is ‘contrary to human dignity’.” Yet, the Catholic Church’s ties to the bullfighting industry make a mockery of Christ’s teachings of kindness and compassion.

Bullfighting is a ritualised execution, which involves repeatedly goading and stabbing a bull until he is weakened and defenceless. A matador will then plunge a sword into the animal’s heart or lungs. It can take many attempts to kill a bull this way, and if the matador fails, a knife will be used to sever the spinal cord. The bull’s ears or tail may be cut off and kept as a trophy.

Holy Father, before more animals are tortured in this way, please communicate to members of the clergy and the more than 1.4 billion Catholics around the world that bullfighting is contrary to the values of the Roman Catholic faith and that any association with this grotesquely cruel spectacle in God’s name must stop immediately.

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