FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 15, 2023

BISHOP BRENNAN GIVES DISPENSATION FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY

Bishop Robert Brennan of the Diocese of Brooklyn has issued a dispensation from the Lenten obligation to abstain from eating meat for this Friday, March 17, 2023, which is St. Patrick’s Day.  In granting the dispensation, Bishop Brennan acknowledges the day honors St. Patrick, who brought Catholicism to Ireland and celebrates the many Irish immigrants who brought the faith to the Diocese in Brooklyn and Queens.

“I am pleased to grant this dispensation for this Friday of Lent only, so that celebrations of St. Patrick can be fully enjoyed by the faithful of the Diocese, or those who find themselves in Brooklyn and Queens commemorating the day. During this Holy season of Lent, I ask those who do utilize this dispensation to perform a work of charity as an alternative,” said Bishop Robert Brennan.

Lent is the 40-day season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes at sundown on Holy Thursday. Catholics abstain from eating meat on all Fridays during the Lenten Season, as well as on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

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