It's St. Patrick's Day but it's also Friday, which means many are wondering if they can eat meat in celebration of the holiday, which falls during Lent.
The answer depends mostly on where one lives, as bishops across Illinois have shown themselves to be divided on the issue.
Lent is the annual period of Christian observance that precedes Easter. During lent, many abstain from eating meat on specific days, including Fridays.
So can Illinois Catholics eat corned beef and other traditional St. Patrick's Day meals?
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In Chicago, the answer is no, however there is one alternative.
The Archdiocese of Chicago, which represents Catholics in Lake and Cook Counties, said in a release that it will not grant a general dispensation for the Memorial of St. Patrick, meaning Catholics should continue to abstain from meat Friday for Lent.
However, the Archdiocese also noted Catholics who find themselves at an event where meat is being served can “in good conscience substitute the general rule of abstinence with another form of penance or a significant act of charity that benefits the poor.”
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“It is important to take seriously the obligation to observe Fridays in Lent as a way of uniting ourselves to Jesus, who died on Good Friday,” the Archdiocese said in a statement.
Cardinal Blase Cupich had given a general dispensation for St. Patrick’s Day in 2017, according to the Chicago Catholic, but asked that those choosing to eat meat instead “substitute another form of penance.”
Illinois is broken down into six dioceses, including Chicago, Rockford, Peoria, Joliet, Springfield and Belleville.
Rockford Bishop David Malloy, whose diocese covers residents in McHenry, DeKalb and Kane counties, granted dispensation to eat meat on St. Patrick’s Day, asking adherents to “perform some other act of penance or charity on that day in honor and respect to the Paschal Mystery of our Lord and Savior.”
Catholics in the Joliet diocese, which includes Kendall, Grundy, DuPage, Will and Kankakee counties, will also be granted a dispensation for St. Patrick's Day.
A dispensation has been granted by Bishop Louis Tylka on behalf of the Peoria diocese, which includes LaSalle County. He does ask adherents to “undertake a work of charity, an exercise of piety, or an act of comparable penance on some other occasion during the third week of Lent.”
In Springfield, Catholics are not being offered that dispensation, but pastors can grant them “on an individual basis for a just cause,” according to the State Journal-Register.
Bishop Michael McGovern has granted a dispensation for the holiday in Belleville, representing most of southern Illinois.
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholics 14 years of age and older are required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent.
