Morrissey wants an end to bullfighting (Picture: Jason Mendez/Getty Images)
The Smiths frontman Morrissey has asked Pope Francis ‘to condemn the sinful spectacle of bullfighting’.
The 65-year-old, who has famously campaigned for animal rights over the years, sent an open letter addressed to the head of the Catholic Church to ‘add my voice’ to a campaign from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta).
The animal rights organisation has previously urged the Pope to condemn bullfighting, which takes place at the annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, which Peta says has ‘Catholic roots’.
The Running of the Bulls website says that on ‘the evening of the Bull Run at 6 pm, the bulls are killed during the Bullfights in the bullfight arena (Plaza de Toros)’.
In the letter, dated August 2024, Morrissey said: ‘These abominations have to end, and only you (Pope Francis) can end them. Please, please do.
‘I was raised in a Roman Catholic family and brought up in the Church, but any person who believes in compassion could be writing this to you: please add my voice to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) call for you to condemn the sinful spectacle of bullfighting.
The former Smiths frontman has long campaigned for animal rights (Picture: Jim Dyson/Getty Images)
He called for Pope Francis to bring an end to the sport, which he said has Catholic roots (Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
‘You chose the name of St Francis – patron saint of animals and the environment – because you wish to make nature protection your legacy, but the torture, torment, and killing of bulls for sport flies in the face of his teachings and yours.’
He added: ‘As compassionate people have realised that bulls suffer almost beyond imagination when stabbed and tortured in the ring, bullfighting’s popularity has plummeted.
‘This year, Colombia banned bullfighting.’
Colombian president Gustavo Petro signed a bill that bans bullfights in the South American country earlier in the year.
Morrissey said that if the Church will not condemn the ‘atrocity’ that takes place in Pamplona it may lose its ‘relevance’.
He continued: ‘As I once sang, we all want the bull to survive. And so it is. Please show mercy and kindness to these animals and condemn bullfighting.”
The 80s rocker explores the topic of animal welfare in his song The Bullfighter Dies and The Smiths song Meat Is Murder, the name of the band’s second studio album.
Morrissey once famously compared eating meat to peadophilia.
In a Q&A session on his fan website in 2014as per The Guardian, Morrissey wrote: ‘I see no difference between eating animals and paedophilia.
He added: ‘They are both rape, violence, murder. If I’m introduced to anyone who eats beings, I walk away.’
Morrissey recently claimed he accepted a ‘lucrative’ offer for a Smiths reunion but former bandmate Johnny Marr ‘ignored’ it (Picture: Brian Rasic/Getty Images)
Morrissey has become a controversial figure with his political and social beliefs (Picture: Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
His slamming of bullfighting comes after Morrissey …read more
Source:: Metro
