Why do Catholics not eat meat on Friday?

Friday is the day Christ died. Giving up meat, the festive food of most cultures, is a small weekly act of penance in memory of the Cross. Christians have kept Friday as a day of penance since the first century.

What counts as meat for Catholic abstinence?

The flesh of warm-blooded land animals and birds, and broths or gravies made from them. Fish, shellfish, amphibians and reptiles are not meat. Eggs, milk, butter and cheese are allowed.

Is eating meat on a Friday of Lent a mortal sin?

Deliberately ignoring the Lenten abstinence is a serious matter, but forgetting, or eating meat when you had no reasonable alternative, is not sinful. Do a small penance later in the day and carry on.

Can Catholics eat meat on Friday?

Q: Can Catholics eat meat on Friday?

Not on the Fridays of Lent, Ash Wednesday or Good Friday, for anyone aged 14 and over. On other Fridays, universal Church law still names meat abstinence but lets bishops' conferences allow another penance instead. The United States and Canada allow substitution; England and Wales require abstinence. A solemnity falling on a Friday lifts the rule.

Short answer: not on the Fridays of Lent. On the other Fridays of the year it depends on where you live, because the Church lets national bishops' conferences decide whether meat abstinence or another penance is required. Here is the whole rule, what counts as meat, and who is excused.

Fridays of Lent: no meat

Every Friday from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday is a day of abstinence from meat for all Catholics aged 14 and over. So are Ash Wednesday itself and Good Friday, which are also fast days. This part of the rule is universal and has no regional variations. See the Lent 2027 dates for this year's Fridays.

Fridays outside Lent: it depends where you are

Canon 1250 of the Code of Canon Law says every Friday of the year is a day of penance, and canon 1251 names abstinence from meat as that penance. Canon 1253 then allows each bishops' conference to "substitute other forms of penance" for abstinence. That is why the answer differs by country:

Country	Fridays outside Lent
United States	Penance required; abstinence from meat is recommended but another penance may be chosen (USCCB, 1966)
Canada	Abstinence from meat or another penance
England and Wales	Abstinence from meat required, restored by the bishops from September 2011
Ireland, Australia, most of Europe	Penance required; conferences generally allow another penance in place of meat

Two things are true everywhere. First, Friday is never simply a free day: if you eat meat, the Church expects some other penance that day. Second, when a solemnity such as Christmas, the Assumption or St Joseph's Day falls on a Friday, the obligation does not apply at all.

What counts as meat

Forbidden: beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, game and all other warm-blooded land animals and birds, plus soups, broths and gravies made from them.
Allowed: fish and shellfish of every kind, and by long custom amphibians and reptiles.
Also allowed: eggs, milk, butter, cheese, and condiments or fats derived from animals such as lard. Under the 1917 Code these were explicitly permitted on days of abstinence.

The rule is about the kind of food, not the quantity. On a day of abstinence you may eat the usual number of meals. Only on a fast day is the amount limited.

Who is excused

Children under 14.
Anyone who is ill or whose health requires meat, and pregnant or nursing women who need it.
Those who genuinely have no alternative, for example a guest served meat with no other food available, or someone dependent on institutional catering.

Unlike fasting, abstinence has no upper age limit: Catholics over 59 still abstain. If you are excused for one of the reasons above, choose another small penance for the day if you can.

Why Friday?

Friday is the day of the Crucifixion. The Didache, written before the year 100, already records Christians fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Friday abstinence from meat was universal in the West for well over a thousand years. Meat was the festive food; giving it up once a week was a small, visible way of keeping the Cross in mind. The fish on Friday tradition, and the Friday fish fry, come from this rule.

Keeping the older discipline

Before 1966, meat abstinence bound every Friday of the year without exception for solemnities, and the Fridays and Saturdays of Lent were days of fasting as well. Many Catholics still keep year-round Friday abstinence as a personal rule; the bishops of the United States, in their 1966 statement, said they hoped it would remain the normal Friday practice. The Fast Days app's Traditional tier puts every Friday on the calendar; the Modern tier shows only the Fridays of Lent.

Never forget a Friday again

Fast Days reminds you on the morning of every abstinence day for the rule set you follow, modern or traditional, and adjusts if you record an exemption. Free on iPhone and iPad.

Download Fast Days free on the App Store

Frequently asked questions

Can I eat chicken on Friday?

Not on a Friday of Lent. Poultry counts as meat.

What about chicken or beef stock in a soup?

Broths and gravies made from meat are covered by the rule. Vegetable or fish stock is fine.

Does the rule apply on St Patrick's Day when it falls on a Friday?

St Patrick's Day is a solemnity only in Ireland and in dioceses where he is patron. Elsewhere the Friday rule applies unless the local bishop grants a dispensation, which many do in the United States.

Is a Friday of Lent a fast day too?

Not under current law. Only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are fast days; the other Fridays of Lent are abstinence only. Under the pre-1966 rules they were both.

Sources: Code of Canon Law (1983), canons 1250 to 1253; 1917 Code of Canon Law, canon 1250; USCCB, Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence (18 November 1966); Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, statement of May 2011. This page gives religious guidance, not medical advice.