Two animal rights activists connected to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) temporarily interrupted Pope Francis’ Wednesday audience in Vatican City, calling on the 87-year-old pontiff to take action against bullfighting.

The female activists, wearing white shirts with the slogan “Stop blessing corridas,” jumped over a barrier that separated a seating area from the central walkway within the Paul VI Hall and waved banners that read “la corrida e peccato” (“bullfighting is a sin”) before the pope and approximately 6,000 pilgrims.

PETA claims that tens of thousands of bulls are killed each year in a sport it describes as a “bloodbath” that celebrates animal cruelty.

A news article on the PETA website reported the two women, who belong to the U.K. branch of the organization, were arrested and later released by Vatican authorities. The article said the organization hopes the women’s “powerful message” will spur the Holy Father to join its cause and condemn bullfighting.

“PETA is putting our faith in Pope Francis to condemn the despicable practice and cut the Catholic Church’s shameful ties with the bullfighting industry,” the article says.

“His Holiness Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical Laudato Si’ that ‘every act of cruelty toward any creature is “contrary to human dignity.”’”

The international animal rights group believes bullfighting is “a stark contrast to Christ’s teaching on compassion and mercy” and condemns the connection of the sport to celebrations held in honor of Catholic saints.

The organization also mentions in its article published Wednesday that St. Pius V had condemned bullfights and those who participated in the sport because of its cruel nature, as he considered it to be contrary to “Christian piety and charity.” 

Before Easter celebrations took place in Rome this year, PETA plastered an image of Jesus between a bull and a matador with the message “Bullfighting is a sin. Ask your priest to condemn it” on buses and 100 billboards around the city to promote its worldwide campaign to end the sport.

The elaborate advertising campaign was launched in Rome and near Vatican City ahead of the First Meeting of Bullfighting Chaplains and Priests held in early April in Spain. 

On Jan. 25, two other PETA U.K. activists protested their cause to end bullfighting before Pope Francis while he was attending vespers for the solemnity of the Conversion of St. Paul at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.