Bishop announces general dispensation with conditions
CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis announces a dispensation for Roman Catholics in the Diocese of Charlotte to abstain from eating meat on Friday, March 17, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, so everyone can get into the spirit of the holiday and enjoy the traditional Irish meal of corned beef if desired.
But to receive the dispensation, one must transfer their “meatless Friday” to another day that week, as part of their ongoing Lenten practices of abstinence, prayer and almsgiving, the bishop said in his announcement March 7.
Alternatively, the bishop said, people can:
• assist at Mass at any church, chapel or oratory on March 17,
• pray the Breastplate of St. Patrick (also known as the Lorica of St. Patrick) on March 17, or
• engage in prayer such as the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, Stations of the Cross or a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration.
The dispensation was shared at all Masses in diocesan churches over the weekend of March 11-12.
Roman Catholics aged 14 or older (unless they are ill or pregnant or nursing mothers) must normally abstain from meat and meat products on all the Fridays of Lent, as well as on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Meat includes beef, pork, lamb, chicken, venison and other land-based animals. Eggs, butter and cheese are permitted. Fish, amphibians, reptiles and shellfish are also permitted.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops notes that in all cases, common sense should prevail. Ill persons should not further jeopardize their health by fasting, and indulging in a lavish seafood buffet misses the point since abstaining from meat and other indulgences during Lent is a penitential practice.
— Catholic News Herald