MADISON, Wis. — February 28, 2020 is the first Friday of this year’s Lenten season. While plant-based products are growing increasingly popular, the concept of skipping meat on Fridays during Lent is becoming a bit hazier.
Madison bishop Donald Hying said, “Strictly speaking, you’re not violating the obligation to abstain from meat if you’re eating a vegetable meat. If a food product is consisting solely of vegetables, does not have any meat it in, it is certainly permissible to consume such a product on a Friday on Lent as a Catholic because it would still be observing the non-eating meat rule.”
Both the Milwaukee and Chicago Archdiocese say it violates the spirit of giving up meat even if the meat you are eating isn’t real.