February 24, 2006

Catholics may eat meat on St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, falls this year on a Lenten Friday, a penitential day for Catholics when they do not eat meat or soups and sauces made from meat.

Recognizing that this is a traditional day of celebration for many Catholics and that a person cannot celebrate and do penance at the same time, Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein has commuted the obligation for Catholics of the archdiocese to abstain from meat on Friday, March 17.

Commutation means that those persons in the archdiocese who wish to eat meat on St. Patrick’s Day are free to do so provided that they abstain from meat on some other day during the week of March 12. †

See the normal Lenten regulations


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