A little St. Patrick's Day Controversy in Rapid City?

As reported in the Rapid City Journal, Bishop Cupich is a bit of a hard case when it comes to giving his Isish parishoners a break during lent:
In Ireland, the day is known more as a church holiday, and corned beef has little to do with it. Cupich issued the following statement in light of the American tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage on the holiday.

“The faithful of our diocese know that abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent is an important way for Catholics throughout the world to join together in solidarity to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday,” Cupich said, noting that Catholics sometimes find themselves in situations that make it difficult for them to observe abstinence from meat on Friday.

“These circumstances should not be taken lightly. In such cases, some other kind of observance of Friday in Lent is appropriate, such as sacrificial almsgiving to the poor or fasting between meals. I have every confidence that adult Catholics and their families will use their good judgment and do what is right regarding abstinence from meat when observing Fridays during Lent and only look for appropriate alternatives for serious reasons,” Cupich said.
But a word of dissent from a Priest and fellow Irishman:
Msgr. William O’Connell of Rapid City recalls the pre-Vatican II Council days when all Fridays of the year were days of abstinence.

“Thus, when St. Patrick’s Day fell on Friday, the norm was to give a dispensation from abstinence. Bishop McCarty always did here in Rapid City,” O’Connell said.
and..
O’Connell will celebrate the holiday in his hometown of Chicago with family but without corned beef.

“I suppose some bishops, under pressure from Hibernians, would grant a dispensation,” O’Connell said. But for this Irish American priest, he said, it will be “corned beef and cabbage on Thursday night and salmon on Friday.”
Read it all here. Surely, this ranks up there among the greatest of scandals of the Catholic Church.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A note from Benedict Ar... Sorry. A note from Stan Adelstein why he thinks you should vote Democrat this year.

Corson County information on Klaudt Rape Charges

It's about health, not potential promiscuity.