Catholics can eat meat on St. Paddy's Day says Washington Archdiocese

Easy at-home St. Patrick's Day dishes

Celebrity chef Carlos Brown joins Good Day DC to show us how to make some delicious and easy at-home St. Patrick's Day dishes.

WASHINGTON - Catholics in D.C. are in luck – they can still enjoy their corned beef and shepherd's pie on St. Patrick's Day this year.

St. Patrick's Day is March 17, and falls on a Friday this year. During Lent, the season leading up to Easter, Roman Catholics refrain from eating meat on Fridays.

With many Catholics who also celebrate St. Patrick's Day, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington announced a "dispensation," or an exemption, from abstaining from meat on St. Patrick's Day.

"It is well known that Saint Patrick’s Day is a day of convivial celebration for many American Catholics," said Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington. "I therefore decree that on Friday, March 17, 2023, all Catholics of the Archdiocese of Washington, no matter where they may be, and all other Catholics actually present in the Archdiocese on that day, are, by my authority, dispensed from the obligation."

Catholics who choose to eat meat on St. Patrick's Day are encouraged to abstain from eating meat another day during the Lenten season.