Whereas, the disciplinary practice of abstaining from meat on the Fridays in Lent is an important dimension of the penitential nature of the season and applies to all Catholics who have reached the age of fourteen (canons 1251 and 1252);

Whereas, this year the Feast of St. Patrick, March 17, falls on a Friday in Lent;

Now therefore, in accord with canon 87 §1 of the Code of Canon Law, given the many celebrations that occur on this day in commemoration of St. Patrick, Principal Patron of the Diocese of Norwich and titular of the Cathedral, I hereby grant to all Catholics of the Diocese of Norwich, as well as all present here that day, a dispensation from abstinence from meat. All who make use of this dispensation are obliged in conscience to undertake another work of charity, exercise of piety, or an act of comparable penance that day.

Given at the Diocesan Chancery, Norwich, Connecticut, on this 28th Day of February in the year of Our Lord 2023.

Most Reverend Michael R. Cote
Bishop of Norwich