The Catholic Church must sever its ties with bullfighting, argues Fr Terry Martin.
Pope Francis famously wrote in Laudato Si’ that “Every act of cruelty towards any creature is contrary to human dignity.” Paragraph 2418 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church also states: “t is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.” Yet animals are taunted, terrorised, ridiculed, repeatedly stabbed and eventually killed in bullfights.
Some of these spectacles are conducted with the Church’s blessing, as demonstrated by George Young’s article in the November edition of the Catholic Herald. As the only pope to have chosen the name Francis, the patron saint of animals, I pray that the Holy Father will disavow any association with the bullfighting industry and call out members of the clergy (and other Catholics) who participate in this violent, unchristian pursuit.
