This footage was filmed and produced 25 January 2024.

In a bold protest at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, PETA U.K. activists, adorned with T-shirts proclaiming "Stop Blessing Corridas," interrupted a prayer service attended by Pope Francis. The activists appealed to His Holiness, urging the Catholic Church to sever its connections with bullfighting and denounce the brutal blood sport.

PETA Vice President for the UK and Europe, Mimi Bekhechi, emphasized the contradiction between the church's teachings of mercy and the torment inflicted upon bulls in bullfighting events. Tens of thousands of bulls suffer in these spectacles globally, with many festivals dedicated to Catholic saints. The protesters called on Pope Francis to condemn the cruel industry and renounce the Church's association with such merciless displays.

Despite historical condemnations, including Pope Pius V's 16th-century ban on bullfighting, the Church's enforcement has waned. Pope Francis himself highlighted the incompatibility of cruelty with human dignity in his encyclical Laudato Si'. The activists implore the Church to act on its principles and cease any support for the barbaric practice.