Q. With St. Patrick’s Day once again falling on a Friday in Lent, I’m wondering how getting permission to eat meat works. It seems like some bishops allow it and some don’t, and I know people whose pastors give them permission but then other pastors don’t. How does that all work?
A. In the context of canon law, a dispensation is defined as a “relaxation of a merely ecclesiastical law in a particular case” (CIC c. 85). The presumption of the Church is (not surprisingly) that all Her laws are in place because they contribute to the spiritual good of the members of the Catholic Church. In Her wisdom however, the Church recognizes that there may be situations unforeseen by the law in which a law becomes burdensome to the point of actually being counterproductive for the spiritual well-being of the person in the situation.
To prevent the law from becoming overly burdensome, the Church allows for the relaxation (not undoing) of a particular law for a particular person or group of persons for a particular time. There are limits to this power, though. Dispensations apply only to “merely ecclesiastical” law. No one can dispense from Natural or Divine Law, only the laws that the Church has put into place Herself.
Only those who, by office or by the law itself, are able to grant dispensations are able to validity dispense from a law. Diocesan bishops are able to dispense from all ecclesiastical laws except procedural and penal laws, and in those cases when a dispensation is reserved to the Holy See (CIC cc. 85, 87 §1). Pastors are able to dispense their subjects from some ecclesiastical laws, among which is the law regarding observing days of penance, such as a Friday in Lent.
Even if they have the authority to dispense from an ecclesiastical law, a dispensation is to be granted only when there is a “just and reasonable cause” and “after taking into account the circumstances of the case and the gravity of the law from which dispensation is given” (CIC c. 90 §1). Dispensations are not to be granted unless there is a valid enough reason that justifies “wounding” the law. The law has to truly be burdensome, not just inconvenient.
Which leads to the issue of dispensing from the obligation of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent when St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday. Abstaining from meat is a merely ecclesiastical law, and as such is a valid subject for a dispensation. Diocesan bishops and pastors have the authority to dispense from the obligation. So the issue is, does a just and reasonable cause exist that warrants dispensing from a universal law that is tied to the centuries-long practice of the Church?
Unsurprisingly, bishops and pastors answer this question in different ways. For some, the cultural importance Irish-Americans place upon eating an Irish-American dish like corned beef and cabbage is enough to justify the dispensation. For others, it is not. For some, those who simply want to have meat on St. Patrick’s Day because it is St. Patrick’s Day, apart from any cultural significance, have reason enough. For others, they do not. It is up to the one to whom the request to grant the dispensation has been made to determine whether, in his judgement, a just and reasonable cause exists.
Before requesting a dispensation, we should always ask ourselves the same question: does a just and reasonable cause exists for this dispensation? The Church requires us to not eat meat seven Fridays out of the year. Does observing St. Patrick’s Day justify eliminating one of those days? It could, but it could also be that maybe we are emphasizing the importance of St. Patrick’s Day simply because we want to eat meat, and not because we want to celebrate this day as a feast in the Church, by attending Mass and eating a traditional Irish-American meal.
If we observe penance only when it is convenient, then we miss the point entirely. Sacrifice is sacrifice because we are giving up something valuable. It is worth considering whether forgoing meat on St. Patrick’s Day, especially if it is important to us, is actually better for us in the long run.
This question was answered by Father Caleb La Rue, chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
