Catholic Priest Honoured by PETA for Advocacy Against Bullfights
At a special event in London celebrating PETA’s ground-breaking victories for animals over the last 45 years, the organisation’s founder Ingrid Newkirk presented Fr Terry Martin, a Catholic priest who serves the Parish of Worthing and Lancing, with PETA’s Guiding Light Award in recognition of his leadership in urging the Roman Catholic Church to prevent its priests from attending and officiating at bullfights, and allowing the hideously cruel spectacle to be performed “in honour” of Catholic saints.
Father Martin’s Advocacy Against Bullfights
Father Martin is the embodiment of PETA’s event theme about inspiring change in an ever-changing world.
Here are just some of his many compassionate actions for animals:
- He has appeared in a dramatic full-page advert in the leading international Catholic journal, The Tablet, calling out bullfighting as animal torture.
- He joined priests from France and Canada to send a letter to Pope Francis asking him to condemn bullfighting.
- He published an op-ed in the Catholic Herald pointing out that terrorising and killing vulnerable animals is contrary to Christ’s teachings of mercy and compassion.
Father Martin fearlessly practises what he preaches, from his advocacy for persecuted bulls who are killed after great torment in the name of Catholic Saints to his decision to stop eating animals years ago. He is truly a shining example of how we should live on this Earth, speaking up to defend those powerless to defend themselves.
Father Martin also recently published a book ‘Animals in Heaven?: A Catholic Pastoral Response to Questions about Animals’ which explores the issues around animals within a context of Christian faith.
“I was honoured to be a voice, speaking out to the Church and, in particular, to the Pope, to end the savage cruelty of bullfighting in Catholic (and other) countries. As a priest, as a Catholic, as a Christian, it continually deeply troubles me that the Church is generally agonisingly slow to condemn the speciesism so sadly evident in Christian circles.
Like us all, I refuse to be discouraged, I refuse to give up, and I choose to remain a voice for the voiceless. In that spirit, and with immense gratitude, I accept this unexpected award, which it is a real honour to receive.”
– Father Terry Martin
Catholic Church and Bullfighting
Every year, tens of thousands of bulls are slaughtered in bullfighting festivals around the world, many of which are held in honour of Catholic saints.
During these events, assailants on horses drive lances into a bull’s back and neck, then a matador attempts to kill the animal by plunging a sword into his lungs or, if that fails, cutting his spinal cord with a knife. The bull may be paralysed but still conscious as his ears or tail are cut off and presented to the matador as a trophy and his body is dragged from the arena.
Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical Laudato si’, “Every act of cruelty towards any creature is ‘contrary to human dignity.’”
Bulls Need Your Help
Please, join PETA in urging Pope Leo XIV to take a stand against these sadistic spectacles.
Sign PETA’s Petition
Help Animals in 2026: Renew Your PETA Membership!
Donate Now
