Can those who observe meatless Fridays eat meat at Progressive Field on Good Friday?
Good Friday #GoodFriday
CLEVELAND, Ohio – For those who are scheduled to attend the Cleveland Guardians’ home opener on Friday, April 7, know this: The Diocese of Cleveland is not offering dispensation for those who abstain from eating meat on Fridays.
Lent ends on Good Thursday, April 6. But April 7 is Good Friday, a Holy Week fasting day for Catholics. And occasionally Good Friday falls on a Guardians home opener.
Cleveland opens its regular season at home against Seattle at 4:10 p.m. April 7. The home opener, almost a guaranteed sellout, means more than 30,000 fans will be in the ballpark around dinner time. So, if you observe meatless Fridays, you can skip the hot dogs, hamburgers, bratwursts, chicken and beef tacos – hungry yet? – nachos with slow-cooked meat, Italian sandwiches and many other items.
But hey, there are fish sandwiches at the Build-a-Burger stand on the main concourse not far from the left-field foul pole, in addition to cheese pizza and pretzels throughout the park.
“It’s consistent. We had Good Friday last year, too,” Curtis Danburg, vice president of communications and community impact for the Guardians, said about the team’s 2022 home opener, which fell on April 15.
“We’ve never been given dispensation; we don’t expect to get dispensation. We have Lenten options in the suites and in the concourse. … We do have a meatless option for Catholics when they come to Opening Day.”
The statement from Bishop Edward C. Malesic regarding Good Friday and the ballpark:
“There is no more poignant day of the year for Catholic Christians than Good Friday. It is a day when in a solemn and somber way, we remember the Lord’s death for the sake of our salvation. As it has been for centuries, Good Friday marks the day that Jesus Christ was crucified and died on the cross to atone for humanity’s sins. It is a day of reflection, and traditionally, a day of fasting, prayer and penance. Without the darkness of Good Friday, we would not have the joy of the resurrection on Easter Sunday.
“While we wish the Cleveland Guardians a very successful home opener on Friday, April 7, we cannot grant a dispensation to the practice of abstaining from meat for Catholics attending the baseball game on this most holy Friday of Lent.”
The ruling differs from Malesic’s earlier dictum this week about St. Patrick’s Day – Friday, March 17 – offering dispensation. It’s the first time since 2017 that St. Pat’s has fallen on a Friday, and it’s OK for observing Catholics to chomp down on that corned-beef sandwich.
Malesic asked that those who do eat meat on that day choose a non-Friday to abstain from meat or to make some other offering as sacrifice.
Related coverage: Can I eat corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day Friday while observing Lent? Catholic bishop provides answer
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