Canon 1250 of the Code of Canon Law states that Fridays of Lent are penitential days, which require abstinence from meat for all who have completed their fourteenth year. Bishops may dispense of this Friday obligation during Lent, especially when “certain feasts occur which the liturgy or local custom traditionally exempts from the Lenten spirit of penance” (NCCB, Statement, n. 16). Because the Memorial of Saint Patrick is a common celebratory day in the United States and locally, Bishop Burns has decreed that on Friday, March 17, 2023, all Catholics of the Diocese of Dallas, no matter where they may be, and all other Catholics actually present in the Diocese on that day, are dispensed from the obligation to abstain from meat. Read Bishop Burn’s official letter below!
