Clergy Abuse Survivor Who Works for PETA Urges Catholic Church to Sever Ties With Bullfighting

Daniel Paden, a clergy abuse survivor and an employee of PETA, appears in a recent PETA video addressing the Roman Catholic Church’s ties to bullfighting. PETA produced the video, and the reports about it were published on peta.org. Paden has dedicated his career to combating cruelty to animals.

Paden shares his own experience of abuse by a priest. Several of the reports describe it as sexual abuse, while others say only that he was abused by a priest. The reports do not identify the priest, and they do not describe any criminal charge, civil lawsuit, or institutional finding related to that experience.

Paden says some priests continue to support bullfighting, even though Church teaching emphasizes compassion and avoiding unnecessary animal suffering. One report says some Catholic priests take part in or officiate at bullfights, sometimes while wearing religious garments. In making his case, Paden cites Pope Francis’s encyclical *Laudato Si’*, which condemns cruelty to any creature as contrary to human dignity. He argues that the Church’s association with bullfighting contradicts its teachings on compassion and non-violence.

Paden questions how those who preach compassion can take pleasure in the cruelty of bullfighting. He urges the Church to sever its ties with the bullfighting industry. He also calls on the Church and Pope Leo XIV to condemn all forms of abuse and violence, whether against humans or animals, a call that reflects a concern for protecting the vulnerable (Proverbs 31:8-9).

The fifth report is incomplete. It states that Paden says some priests support bullfighting and that these events a, and the text ends there. The reports do not include a response from the Church or from Pope Leo XIV.