DISPENSATION FROM THE OBLIGATION TO ABSTAIN FROM MEAT ON FRIDAY 17 MARCH 2023 (THE COMMEMORATION OF SAINT PATRICK)
WHEREAS, Catholics ages fourteen and older are required to abstain from meat on all Fridays during Lent (cans. 1251 and 1252),
WHEREAS, the commemoration of Saint Patrick falls on a Friday during Lent this year (17 March 2023),
WHEREAS, the religious celebration of Saint Patrick is an important one, particularly for IrishAmerican Catholics, and traditionally involves the consumption of meat,
THEREFORE, I, the Bishop of Syracuse, out of pastoral concern for the faithful and under the norms of canon 87 § 1, do hereby immediately dispense the faithful entrusted to my care and those Catholics who are within the territory of the Diocese of Syracuse from the obligation of abstaining from meat on Friday 17 March 2023.
As is fitting and just, those who wish to abstain from meat are encouraged to do so. Those who choose not to abstain are asked to abstain from meat on another day during the week of 12 March 2023 or to perform a charitable work or to engage in some other Lenten devotion.
Given this twenty-second day of February – Ash Wednesday – in the year of our Lord, two thousand twenty three.
