Watch: Catholic Priests Endorse Bullfighting in Sickening Video
A disturbing new video shows footage of several prominent Catholic priests in Spain making extraordinary remarks in defence of bullfighting, even comparing it to the death of Christ, despite clear Catholic doctrine forbidding cruelty to animals.
“What you are seeing in the ring, you are seeing a sacrific that is not violent; bullfighting has precisely come to end all violence.”
Father Antonio Schlatter
“The bull is not made to be pardoned; the bull is made to die in the ring.”
Father Juan García
“It is a sacrifice, like the mass is a sacrifice – it is a sacrifice of an animal. Here it is the sacrifice of Christ.”
Father Cruz Goñi
“All this idea of animalism… as if it were a person, as if it had a soul.”
Father Adolfo Ariza
Image credit: Tras Los Muros
Stabbed, Tormented, and Killed
During “bullfights”, the animal is repeatedly stabbed with barbed harpoons before a sword is driven into his lungs and a dagger is used to sever his spinal cord, not always hitting its mark. The bull may be left paralysed. Sometimes, his ears are cut off astrophies while he’s still alive. Bulls exploited for these events suffer prolonged, painful deaths.
Killing Is Not Compassionate
The ritualised execution of bulls in front of bloodthirsty crowds couldn’t be further removed from Christ’s message of compassion.
These priests’ statements fly in the face of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that humans must not “cause animals to suffer or die needlessly,” and Isaiah 1:11, which declares that “God does not want the blood of animal sacrifices”. As far back as the 16th century, Pope Pius V –who has since been canonised – banned bullfighting, which he described as “cruel and base spectacles of the devil and not of man” and contrary to “Christian piety and charity”.
Pope Leo, Cut Ties with Bullfighting!
We are calling on Pope Leo XIV to sever the Catholic Church’s ties to bullfighting. Sign our petition urging him to do so:
