Vatican City
Reuters
A group of animal rights activists gathered near the Vatican on Friday dressed in red capes and fake horns to urge Pope Francis to denounce what they see as the barbaric practice of bullfighting.
Activists from the animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) protest against bullfighting near Vatican, in Rome, Italy, on 28th July, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Antonio Denti
The corrida, in which the animal usually ends up killed by a sword thrust by a matador in shining costume, is seen by supporters as an age-old tradition to be preserved, but condemned by critics as a cruel ritual.
“Catholic Church: Silence is Violence! Denounce bullfighting,” read a banner held up by the activists near the ancient Roman Castel Sant’Angelo fortress on the banks of the River Tiber, in view of St Peter’s Basilica.
Since bullfighting events “are often held in honour of Catholic saints or during holy Christian celebrations, the Catholic Church can and must help end this abuse by publicly condemning bull torture in the name of religion,” animal rights group PETA said in a statement.
“We are asking the pontiff, the pope, as the representative of the Roman Catholic Church, to publicly condemn, to denounce the torture that is done on bulls in the corrida,” Patrizia Re, a spokesperson for PETA Italy, told Reuters.
The Vatican’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In 1567, Pope Pius V did outlaw bullfighting, calling the practice “alien from Christian piety and charity” and “better suited to demons rather than men”, but his ban eventually lapsed.
Meanwhile, Portugal’s famed street artist, Bordalo II, has broken into a Lisbon venue where Pope Francis will celebrate a Mass next week and rolled out a huge carpet of oversized banknotes to criticise how much the state has spent on the event.
Francis will travel to Lisbon from 2nd to 6th August to attend the World Youth Day global gathering of young Catholics, which is expected to bring together hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.
Bordalo II, known for his political art pieces often made from garbage, shared pictures and videos of the carpet, featuring €500 notes, being rolled out down the venue’s stairs on Thursday in a protest he described as the “walk of shame”.
“At the time when many people are fighting to keep their homes, their work and their dignity, millions worth of public funds have been invested to sponsor the [papal] tour,” the artist, whose real name is Artur Bordalo, wrote on Instagram.
An artwork installation titled “Walk of Shame” depicting carpet with oversized €500 banknotes on, is seen rolled at a main stage of the World Youth Day, as a sign of protest over Portugal’s state expenditure on Pope Francis’ visit, by Portuguese artist Bordalo II, in Lisbon, Portugal, on 28th July, 2023. PICTURE: BORDALO II/Handout via Reuters
Official estimates in January showed the event would cost €161 million, to be paid by the government, the Catholic Church, the city council of Lisbon and nearby Loures.
A number of public figures and politicians have criticised the Portuguese state for its share of the expenditure, which the government put at €30 million in January, as millions of Portuguese face galloping inflation.
Earlier this year, heavy criticism forced the Lisbon city council to cut planned spending on an altar for Francis to celebrate a mass to €2.9 million from over €5 million.
Asked about Bordalo II’s carpet, Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas told reporters the artist used his voice to express his concerns and that such protests were normal for these events.
