PETA UK ‘Nuns’ Arrested in Anti-Bullfighting Protest During Pope’s Barcelona Visit
For Immediate Release:
June 10, 2026
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Earlier today, PETA UK supporters dressed as nuns were arrested attempting to urge Pope Leo to “Condemn Bullfighting” and cut the Catholic Church’s ties to the violent, deadly industry while thousands gathered for the Pope’s mass and inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ—including the King and Queen of Spain, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
The action follows recent video footage released by PETA, where Spanish Catholic priests are seen going against Christian doctrine by defending bullfights.
A video from today’s action is available here.
“The Church sanctioning the ritualized execution of terrified bulls in front of bloodthirsty crowds makes a mockery of Christ’s message of compassion and mercy,” says PETA UK Senior Vice President Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA is calling on Pope Leo to denounce bullfighting as incompatible with Christian values and end the Church’s shameful ties to these barbaric spectacles.”
Every year, tens of thousands of bulls are tormented and killed in bullfights and bull festivals—many held in honor of Catholic saints. During these spectacles, lances tear into the bull’s flesh, banderillas are driven into his back, and when he is weakened and bleeding, he is stabbed through the lungs. Paralyzed but often still conscious, he may be mutilated before 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’,” and as far back as the 16th century, Pope Pius V—who has since been canonized—banned bullfights, 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 clearly 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 while dressed in a cassock.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
