Bishop J. Peter Sartain has granted a general dispensation from the Lenten obligation of abstaining from meat on Friday, March 17, the feast day of St. Patrick. This dispensation is granted to all members of the Church within the Diocese of Little Rock.
In lieu of this dispensation, the bishop recommends that each member who avails him/herself of the dispensation, substitute another form of penance in its place at another time during the remainder of the Lenten season.
The feast of St. Patrick rarely falls on a Friday during Lent. The roots of the Catholic faith in Arkansas are Irish; our first two bishops were born in Ireland. The history of the diocese is rich with the Irish traditions, which are generously shared with all of our ethnic communities who also traditionally celebrate the life and the work of St. Patrick. Thus the reason for the dispensation.
— Msgr. Francis I. Malone, JCL, Vicar General
