For the first time in six years, St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday in Lent, and many local Church leaders have allowed Catholics the day off to eat meat.
The Archdiocese of New York — which includes Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, and seven neighboring counties, gave a special dispensation to allow the eating of meat on Friday of St. Patrick’s Day.
Bishop Robert Brennan of the Diocese of Brooklyn followed with a dispensation of his own on Wednesday. His diocese also includes Queens.
The dioceses of Buffalo, Ogdensburg, Rochester, Rockville Centre, and Syracuse gave their own dispensations, allowing Catholics to pick a different day to abstain from meat or take on an additional charitable act. The diocese of Albany is the only diocese in the state to not issue a dispensation yet.
Canon law points to one explanation for the discrepancy. According toAmerica Magazine, if St. Patrick is the patron saint of a diocese — as he is in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and others, then his feast day is considered a solemnity, which takes precedence over the tradition of abstaining from meat.
