Protest at the Vatican urges the pope to condemn bullfighting

 VATICAN CITY - - Protestors from the charity People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) dressed as bulls as part of a new campaign imploring the pontiff to end bullfighting.

 As bullfights are often held in honour of Catholic saints or during Christian celebrations, PETA is launching a new campaign to urge Pope Francis to condemn these bloody spectacles. 

 To kick off the campaign, singer and TV personality Daniela Martani joined supporters of PETA, the Non-Profit National Board for Animal Protection (ENPA) and Animalisti Italiani, gathered on Friday in a cross formation near the Vatican, wearing 'horns', long red veils and a banner reading: “Catholic Church: silence is violence! Bullfighting must be condemned.”

 The action follows the recent running of bulls in Pamplona, Spain, where spectators chase the animals to their death in the bullring in the name of entertainment. The event takes place during the festival of San Fermin, which has Catholic origins.

 "The Bible asks us to be merciful to all God's creatures, yet bulls are tortured in the name of the saints during Catholic celebrations," remarked Mimi Bekhechi, PETA vice-president for Europe. 

 "Given that Pope Francis is universally revered for his kindness towards animals, PETA calls on him to communicate to the world's billion Catholics that bullfighting is an outrage against Christian virtues,” she added. 

 PETA pointed out that His Holiness Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical Laudato Si' that "any act of cruelty to any creature is 'contrary to human dignity' and that, as early as the 16th century, Pope St. Pius V banned bullfights that were deemed 'cruel' and 'far removed from Christian piety and charity.'"

 During these ritualised executions, bulls are tormented, pierced with a lance and numerous harpoon-like banderillas, and then killed with a sword.

 PETA, whose motto states, among other things, that “animals are not ours to use for forms of entertainment,” opposes speciesism, a world view based on human supremacy. 

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