Bullfighting protest

“Sin”: activists disrupt papal audience at the Vatican

One activist wore a white shirt with the slogan "Stop Blessing Corridas" ("Stop blessing bullfights").(Bild: AFP)

Pope Francis' weekly general audience in the Vatican was interrupted by animal rights activists on Wednesday. The two women wore white T-shirts with slogans such as "Bullfighting is a sin". 

The activists were quickly escorted out of the Paul VI Audience Hall by security officers, where the Pope was holding his first general audience after a month-long summer break in July.

Due to the intense heat in Rome, Wednesday's audience took place in the Vatican's audience hall and not in St. Peter's Square.

Pope Francis held his first general audience on Wednesday after a month-long summer break.(Bild: AP/The Associated Press)

The two women wore shirts from the animal rights organization "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" (PETA). In January, two women protested in a similar manner against bullfighting during a prayer service with the Pope in Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The activists claimed that some Catholic priests give their blessing to local bullfighters. Traditional bullfights take place in Spain, France and several Latin American countries as well as Portugal.