Recreation of Michelangelo’s ‘Pietà’ Makes Bloody Plea to Tourists at Running of the Bulls
For Immediate Release:
July 5, 2025
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Pamplona, Spain — Ahead of the Running of the Bulls at the San Fermín festival, animal advocates from PETA and Spanish animal protection group AnimaNaturalis recreated the Pietà—Michelangelo’s depiction of the Virgin Mary cradling the body of Jesus Christ—but instead of Jesus, she was mourning a “dead bull” as dozens of other “bloody bulls” lay lifeless in a pile around them, wearing nothing but black underwear and “horns.”
Images available here.
“The horrific killings of bulls at the San Fermín festival go against Christian teachings of mercy and kindness,” says PETA Europe Vice President Mimi Bekhechi. “The end of this disgusting, old spectacle is long overdue, and PETA is calling for compassionate people to stop supporting such bloodbaths.”
Every year, tens of thousands of bulls are slaughtered in bullfighting festivals held in honor of Catholic saints, like San Fermín. The doctrine of the Catholic Church clearly states that we should not “cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.” As Pope Francis declared in the 2015 Laudato si’, “Every act of cruelty towards any creature is ‘contrary to human dignity’.” Yet, the Catholic Church’s ties to the ritualized execution of bulls make a mockery of Christ’s teachings of kindness and compassion.
During the event in Pamplona, the bulls are chased through the city streets, where they risk crashing into barriers and walls, falling and breaking their legs, or colliding with each other. Then, in the bullring, men taunt and stab each bull with a lance and several harpoon-like banderillas before the matador stabs the exhausted animal with a sword. A knife is then used to cut his spinal cord. More than 125 Spanish towns and cities have declared themselves against bullfighting. PETA has previously offered Pamplona’s mayor €298,000 to cancel the Running of the Bulls—an offer that still stands.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—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.
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