Catholics Can Eat Meat This St. Patrick’s Day And Here’s Why

Bishop Mark J. Seitz is giving Catholics the “Green” light on this St. Patrick’s Day to eat meat, despite it still being the lent season. 

Yup, if you had plans to celebrate the St. Patrick’s Day holiday with a nice juicy steak then you can keep those plans in place!

The Lent season is a season of repentance in the Catholic community and it’s also a time for Catholics to fast. For many Catholics, every Friday during the Lent season they stay away from eating meat but Bishop Seitz is letting that slide for two Fridays this year due to a few special occasions.

According to a statement shared by Bishop Seitz, Canon 87 §1 of the Code of Canon Law allows bishops to dispense the faithful from universal church laws “whenever he judges that it contributes to their spiritual good.” 

That law gives bishops the authority to suspend the obligation to abstain from meat on a particular Friday if that Friday coincides with a special feast or event, and this year that’s exactly what is happening.

“This year, two important events fall on a Friday of Lent. The first one is on March 17, the feast of St. Patrick, beloved to the many Irish Americans who have built this country,” read a statement from Bishop Seitz that was shared on the Diocese of El Paso’s Facebook page. “Furthermore, St. Patrick is the patron saint of our diocese and our cathedral.”

The second occasion in which Catholics are allowed to eat meat will be on Friday, March 31st when the ordination of the first auxiliary bishop of El Paso, Father Tony Celino, will take place.

“On these two joyous occasions, by the authority given to me by Canon Law, I dispense the faithful and all those present in the Diocese of El Paso from the obligation to abstain from eating meat,” said Bishop Seitz. “As Catholics, we know how to fast and we also know how to feast. May this Lent and the feast days ahead of us prepare us for the great celebration of Easter.”

So, enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day guilt free! And make sure you wear your green today or else….