The Catholic community observes meatless Fridays during the Season of Lent. Many Catholic parishes thoughout the eight county Diocese of Cleveland offer Fish Fries and other meatless meals for their parish communities and the community at large.
Fasting and Abstinence From Eating Meat
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of universal fast and abstinence. Fasting is obligatory for all who have completed their 18th year and have not yet reached their 60th year. Fasting allows a person to eat one full meal. Two smaller meals may be taken, not to equal one full meal. Abstinence (from meat) is obligatory for all who have reached their 14th year.
If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.
Fridays in Lent are obligatory days of complete abstinence (from meat) for all who have completed their 14th year.
Each year during Lent, the Secretariat for Parish Life and Development of the Diocese of Cleveland organizes a list of parishes that host Fish Fries during the weeks of Lent.