Bishops allow Catholics to eat meat on St. Patrick’s Day
The bishops of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Greensburg have issued dispensations from the obligation to abstain from meat on Friday, March 17, St. Patrick’s Day.
Catholics 14 and older are to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays throughout the Lenten season. St. Patrick’s Day falls in the middle of Lent, a 40-day season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving leading up to Easter Sunday.
Both Bishop David Zubik of the Pittsburgh diocese and Bishop Larry J. Kulick, his counterpart in Greensburg, announced the dispensations Friday. The bishops encouraged another act of penance or Lenten discipline on that day.
“It is my hope that those who choose to avail themselves of the dispensation may do so in a spirit that reflects this holy season,” Zubik said.