Is it a obligation to abstain from meat on fridays again?

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LaughingBoy1503

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New Catholic here, Baptized 2013. Convert from protestantism. I am 32 years old so I was not around when The Church in the USA was required to abstain from meat all Fridays of the year. I do another form of penance every Friday of the year, usually in the form of praying the Rosary or divine mercy chaplet or I even go out of my way to get to adoration to spend some time with Jesus in The Blessed Sacrament.

I heard something on Catholic radio (Immaculate heart radio station 930am in Southern California) yesterday. I heard a show host say that Catholic Bishops have asked us to abstain from Meat all Fridays of the year again. Has anyone heard about this? I have not confirmed it but I am positive I heard it on this radio program. I believe this radio show host that perhaps the counsel of Bishops have asked us to choose abstinence from meat as our penance on Fridays but I am curious as to if it is a obligation again? I imagine no, because I am sure it would be all over the internet and would be announced by Catholic radio regularly but I guess the scrupulous side of me is just curious if anyone has heard anything about this?
 
This appears to be a voluntary pledge, not a restoration of the prior mandatory abstinence.
 
Many Catholics do not realize that if you do eat meat on Friday, you are to replace that abstinence with another form of penance.

I do believe that the bishops of England were considering reinstating the Friday abstain from meat discipline again.
 
Convert_in_99 said:
Why do they keep flip-flopping? :ouch:
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They are not. It was a voluntary thing, like “let’s everybody pray for peace this year” or let’s everybody march for pro-life".
It was a thing they put forth as optional in that Year of Faith.

2013

3 years ago. For that single year.
 
Duane1966 said:
I do believe that the bishops of England were considering reinstating the Friday abstain from meat discipline again.
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To my knowledge they have.

If this were to happen in the US, there would be a lot of info about it.
 
pianistclare said:
It was apparently in 2013

usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/upload/Call-to-Prayer-Fasting-Pledge-Card.pdf
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I see… Well, I actually did choose to abstain from meat every friday all year round that year except for one Friday but it was not because the usccb asked us to do it, in fact, I did not even know that it was a obligation to do some sort of penance on Fridays back then.

Well, either it was a old program that was being re played on the radio, or that radio show host could have done a way better job of clarifying that this was not a obligation or I listened in to the program a bit late so I did not catch the full dialogue between this host and the person who called in so I heard the the statement that the Bishops have asked us to abstain from Meat all Fridays of the year, out of context.

Thank you. I think I can put this issue to rest in my mind now.
 
Duane1966 said:
Many Catholics do not realize that if you do eat meat on Friday, you are to replace that abstinence with another form of penance.

I do believe that the bishops of England were considering reinstating the Friday abstain from meat discipline again.
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True. Friday abstinence was never abolished, it was merely relaxed.

What I usually do on Fridays as my penance is go to confession and than attend Eucharistic adoration (although admittedly I have on occasions slipped up on this penance, despite my best efforts). Regular confession is in any case good for the soul and your mental state, and can help reduce sinful thoughts and actions.
 
In most jurisdictions, abstinence is the default position but you can substitute something else. As a vegetarian, I substitute fasting, which I suppose is tougher but I find it has its benefits.
 
Duane1966 said:
Many Catholics do not realize that if you do eat meat on Friday, you are to replace that abstinence with another form of penance.
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Johann_du_Toit said:
True. Friday abstinence was never abolished, it was merely relaxed.

What I usually do on Fridays as my penance is go to confession and than attend Eucharistic adoration (although admittedly I have on occasions slipped up on this penance, despite my best efforts). Regular confession is in any case good for the soul and your mental state, and can help reduce sinful thoughts and actions.
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In the U.S., that’s correct; we are still asked to perform some sort of penance on Fridays, preferably abstinence from meat.

The question has come up, though, whether it’s an obligation under penalty of sin, and I interpret the following as saying that it is not:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=58&highlight=fast+abstinence

Nevertheless I plan to abstain from meat today; if for some reason I do not abstain from meat on a Friday I say an additional five decades of the Rosary.
 
Pax et Bonum! You might want to view a Traditional Catholic Calendar to compare with the Novus Ordo Calendar and see the differences in fasting/abstinence. angeltime:highprayer:
 
Yup, back in the Sixties, the bishops took off the penalty but kept the obligation, wanting people to abstain voluntarily out of love. (And because people were always complaining about how,Catholics made meat into a sin, look at those weird dumb Catholics doing ancient Christian things.) They also added the “do other penitent stuff” clause, so people would not be forced to abstain, and so people would not have to ask their priest for permission.

So of course the media reported that there was no more Friday abstinence except in Lent. And people believed them, because nobody could look this stuff up on the Internet.

When I was a kid, it was still reflexive for Catholic schools to have fish or grilled cheese on Fridays, and I think some Catholics knew about the obligation continuing; but that tended to disappear during the Eighties. I was really angry when I found out in the Nineties via EWTN; nobody had told me we were supposed to keep abstaining! I always liked cheese or fish on Friday, too!

So today I will eat a lovely tunafish salad, heated up in the microwave. Very tasty.
 
Mintaka said:
Yup, back in the Sixties, the bishops took off the penalty but kept the obligation, wanting people to abstain voluntarily out of love. (And because people were always complaining about how,Catholics made meat into a sin, look at those weird dumb Catholics doing ancient Christian things.) They also added the “do other penitent stuff” clause, so people would not be forced to abstain, and so people would not have to ask their priest for permission.

So of course the media reported that there was no more Friday abstinence except in Lent. And people believed them, because nobody could look this stuff up on the Internet.

When I was a kid, it was still reflexive for Catholic schools to have fish or grilled cheese on Fridays, and I think some Catholics knew about the obligation continuing; but that tended to disappear during the Eighties. I was really angry when I found out in the Nineties via EWTN; nobody had told me we were supposed to keep abstaining! I always liked cheese or fish on Friday, too!

So today I will eat a lovely tunafish salad, heated up in the microwave. Very tasty.
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I love toasted tuna fish.👍
 
My wife and I choose to follow the old law. We Fast and Abstain every Friday year around, unless the Friday is a Solemnity.

Just a personal preference.
 
corsair said:
My wife and I choose to follow the old law. We Fast and Abstain every Friday year around, unless the Friday is a Solemnity.

Just a personal preference.
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Same here. I was in grade school when Friday’s changed, but my parents made us still abstain. Never had meat on a Friday (unless it was Christmas) until I was on my own. For a long time Friday was just another no fast day for me. Then one day I realized, I missed the old law.
 
LaughingBoy1503 said:
New Catholic here, Baptized 2013. Convert from protestantism. I am 32 years old so I was not around when The Church in the USA was required to abstain from meat all Fridays of the year. I do another form of penance every Friday of the year, usually in the form of praying the Rosary or divine mercy chaplet or I even go out of my way to get to adoration to spend some time with Jesus in The Blessed Sacrament.

I heard something on Catholic radio (Immaculate heart radio station 930am in Southern California) yesterday. I heard a show host say that Catholic Bishops have asked us to abstain from Meat all Fridays of the year again. Has anyone heard about this? I have not confirmed it but I am positive I heard it on this radio program. I believe this radio show host that perhaps the counsel of Bishops have asked us to choose abstinence from meat as our penance on Fridays but I am curious as to if it is a obligation again? I imagine no, because I am sure it would be all over the internet and would be announced by Catholic radio regularly but I guess the scrupulous side of me is just curious if anyone has heard anything about this?
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BASED on Our Sacred Tradition: YES:thumbsup:

What the Bishops have approved has in a great many cases led to NO sacrifices at all:rolleyes:

God Bless you and Merry Christmas

Patrick
 
PJM said:
BASED on Our Sacred Tradition: YES:thumbsup:

What the Bishops have approved has in a great many cases led to NO sacrifices at all:rolleyes:

God Bless you and Merry Christmas

Patrick
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Why do you say “based on Sacred Tradition”? Since when is abstaining from meat on Fridays part of or based on Sacred Tradition? It is a discipline, and traditional, but not Sacred Tradition. This type of statement is confusing to people. I really don’t mean to be argumentative, but people are already confused about this subject without thinking it is part of Sacred Tradition.
 
Pax et Bonum! For what its worth, I took the phrase “based on sacred tradition” to mean
it was “rooted” or “derived” from a longstanding tradition in the Church. The Church still takes the tradition of abstaining quite seriously, or it would not be recognized on our Catholic Calendars marked (and worded) with a fish. angeltime:highprayer:
 
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