The incident occurred just a few days before the pontiff’s visit to Spain.
In a video released by the animal rights organization PETA, two activists wearing black shirts with the inscription “bullfighting is a sin” can be seen trying to jump over a barricade in St. Peter’s Square. They are stopped and escorted out by the pope’s security officers.
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The video shows that the popemobile, which the pope was driving around the square before the general audience, stopped briefly while the women were detained.
Leo XIV, the first American pope, departs on Saturday for a seven-day visit to Spain, where about 1,500 bullfights are held annually.
Opponents call bullfighting barbaric, while fans defend it as a deeply rooted ancient art form.
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PETA stated in a press release that in Spain “thousands of bulls are slaughtered every year in bullfights held in honor of Catholic saints.”
“During these spectacles, spears pierce the bull’s body, banderillas are stabbed into its back, and the weakened and bleeding animal’s lungs are punctured. Paralyzed but often still conscious, it is frequently mutilated before its body is dragged out of the arena,” PETA said.
Bullfighting “fundamentally contradicts Catholic teaching,” the organization said, noting that the late Pope Francis wrote in his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si” that “every act of cruelty against any creature is contrary to human dignity.”
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