Clergy Abuse Victim Calls for Church Accountability on Bullfighting Support

In a poignant appeal, Daniel Paden, a clergy abuse survivor and PETA employee, addresses the Roman Catholic Church’s involvement with bullfighting. Paden, who has experienced sexual abuse by a priest, questions the Church’s stance on compassion and violence. He highlights the contradiction between the Church’s teachings against causing unnecessary suffering to animals and the support some priests show for bullfighting, a practice involving severe animal cruelty.

Bullfighting, often held during festivals honoring saints, involves bulls being tormented and killed in brutal spectacles. The ritual includes lancing, harpooning, and ultimately stabbing the animal to death, often while it remains conscious. Despite the violence, some Catholic priests participate in or officiate at these events, sometimes even participating in bullfighting while dressed in religious garments.

Paden urges the Church to sever ties with the bullfighting industry, emphasizing the need to protect the vulnerable, aligning with the Christian call to care for victims of abuse in all forms. He references Pope Francis’s encyclical, *Laudato Si’*, which condemns cruelty to any creature as contrary to human dignity. Historically, Pope Pius V, now canonized, banned bullfighting in the 16th century, deeming it “cruel and base.”

The call for the Church to denounce bullfighting aligns with broader Christian values of justice and mercy, reflecting the biblical principle found in Micah 6:8 to act justly and love mercy. This appeal invites the Church to uphold its moral teachings by rejecting practices that inflict suffering, advocating for compassion and justice for all living beings.

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