It is currently the liturgical season of Lent, which means Catholics are not supposed to eat meat on Fridays as an act of penance. However, with St. Patrick's Day--and its traditional fare of corned beef and cabbage--on a Friday this year, bishops across the states have given their flock the go-ahead to partake in meat today in celebration of St. Patrick's feast day.
While a few left things up to individual priests to give an indult, and the Diocese of Trenton and the Archdiocese of St. Louis have limited meat-eating permission only to St. Patrick's Day events held at a parish. The Dioceses of Denver and Lincoln have issued statements saying that they will not be granting permission this year for St. Patrick's Day.
The full list:
All dioceses of Wisconsin and Georgia
Archdioceses of Anchorage, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dubuque, Galveston-Houston, Hartford, Indianapolis, Kansas City in Kansas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Miami, The Military Services USA, Mobile, Newark, New Orleans, New York, Omaha, Philadelphia, Saint Paul and Minneapolis, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC
Dioceses of Albany, Allentown, Arlington, Austin, Baton Rouge, Beaumont, Belleville, Birmingham, Boise, Bridgeport, Brooklyn, Brownsville, Buffalo, Burlington, Camden, Charleston, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Corpus Christi, Covington, Dallas, Davenport, Des Moines, Duluth, Erie, Fall River, Fargo, Fort Wayne-South Bend, Fort Worth, Fresno, Gaylord, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Honolulu, Jackson, Jefferson City, Joliet, Juneau, Kalamazoo, Kansas City-St Joseph, Knoxville, Lafayette (La.), Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Lexington, Manchester, Memphis, Metuchen, Nashville, Norwich, Oakland, Ogdensburg, Owensboro, Palm Beach, Paterson, Pensacola-Tallahassee, Peoria, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (Maine), Providence, Raleigh, Rochester, Rockford, Rockville Centre, Sacramento, St Cloud, St Petersburg, San Bernardino, San Diego, Scranton, Spokane, Springfield (Mass.), Steubenville, Stockton, Syracuse, Toledo, Tucson, Tyler, Venice (Florida), Victoria, Wheeling-Charleston, Wilmington, Winona, Worcester, Yakima, Youngstown
This doesn't mean Catholics are off the hook, however. In places where bishops have granted an indult, Catholics are encouraged to abstain from meat on Saturday or do some other form of charity as as substitute. And, as always, Catholics who choose to partake in a festive alcoholic beverage are reminded to do so responsibly.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
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