DECREE
Dear Friends,
Peace and wellbeing to you and your families. I hope the Lenten Season has been
spiritually enriching to you. View PDF: English
This year, the Memorial of St. Patrick falls on Friday, March 17, 2023, the Third
Week on Lent. This is a well-known celebration for many Catholics. The law of
abstinence binds those Catholics who have completed 14 years of age (Canon
1252). But in these cases, the local bishop can make an exception.
I therefore decree that on Friday, March 17, 2023, those Catholics of the Diocese
of San Bernardino who would like to celebrate the feast day of St. Patrick, no
matter where they may be, and all other Catholics actually present in the Diocese
of San Bernardino on that day, are dispensed from the obligation to abstain from
meat on Friday, March 17, 2023. (Canon 87 §1).
However, my recommendation for those of you who would like to celebrate the
Memorial of Saint Patrick, you can abstain from eating meat on another day of that
Third Week of Lent as part of your penitential practices.
Given this sixth day of March two thousand twenty-three in the Diocese of San
Bernardino, California.
Most Reverend Alberto Rojas, DD
Bishop of the Diocese of San Bernardino
