Why catholics don eat meat on Fridays?
It is not only Catholics that do not eat meat on Fridays but also Eastern Orthodox religions such as Greek Orthodox; Russian Orthodox and others. Until the invention of refrigeration meat was not consumed that often and usually eaten during a major feast in someone’s life i.e. the birth of a child, a wedding and other events. Because Christians remember the death of Christ which took place on a Friday they do not feast rather they fast, from meat. Also, Eastern Orthodox do not eat meat on Wednesday because the remember the betrayal of Christ which took place on a Wednesday. I hope this helps.
First of all, Catholics have been allowed to eat meat on Fridays ever since Vatican Council II, which took place in the early 1960s. In Catholic schools before that change, we were taught to abstain from meat on Fridays to honor the day of Christ’s death, to join this small sacrifice to his great one, and to do penance for our sins. It was considered a mortal sin to eat meat intentionally on a Friday except under certain special circumstances such as sickness. Fortunately, the Council changed the emphasis of Catholic teachings from negative to positive in many ways.
In the U.S., Catholics are obliged to abstain from meat on Fridays only during Lent. While not all Catholics practice this, my understanding is that many Catholics still do. According to a recent article in Pittsburgh Catholic, “Fasting and abstinence gives Catholics an opportunity to slow down and draw nourishment from a different source. As acts of penance, fasting and abstinence help us acknowledge the sin in our lives.” (You can read the full article on this page.
As a Recovered Catholic I still resent all those meatless Fridays. In school they served some awful dry white fish, bloody and unbreaded. I usually made do with a peanut butter & honey sandwich. At home we usually had fish sticks, which were OK. Mac & Cheese and meatless spaghetti were other Friday staples. The thing is: there was no SIN involved. Officially it was all voluntary – but for some reason everyone seemed to think it was a matter of faith and morals. We figured, eat a burger, go to hell. No wonder I turned atheist in my teen years! I’d never make it as a vegan.
