Milwaukee archbishop allows Catholics to eat meat on St. Patrick's Day, which falls on a Friday in Lent

Milwaukee-area Catholics, corned beef is fair game this St. Patrick's Day.

The patron saint of Ireland's feast day falls on a Friday this year. During the season of Lent, Catholics are to abstain from eating meat on Fridays as an act of penance.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki announced Tuesday that he had granted the dispensation from abstaining from meat for St. Patrick's Day, March 17.

“A feast day in the Church means what it says – it calls for celebratory feasting,” Listecki said in a statement. “However, Catholics who partake in the St. Patrick’s Day feast are encouraged to engage in another sacrificial or charitable act that day or give up meat on another day.”

Listecki previously granted a dispensation that allowed area Catholics to eat meat when St. Patrick's Day last fell on a Friday, in 2017.

That year, bishops of more than 80 dioceses around the U.S. granted dispensations for St. Patrick's Day, according to news reports.

Lent began Feb. 22 and extends until April 6.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee covers 10 counties across southeastern Wisconsin.

More:Church and other nonprofit fish fries in the Milwaukee area in 2023 for Lent

More:7 fish fry restaurants to visit in greater Milwaukee in 2023 during Lent

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Catholics can eat meat on St. Patrick's Day, archbishop says