“We wish the Pirates well, and we will be rooting for them with all of Pittsburgh. But we also need to hold to the priority importance of Good Friday,” the diocese said in a statement. “It is an essential part of the most sacred time of year for all Christians. Nothing should take precedence.”
While the dilemma of whether to chow down on a meaty snack applies to all Catholics on Friday, it’s particularly pressing for those going to an MLB home opener, which one person jokingly told the Pittsburgh diocese is the TRUE “most sacred time of the year.”
At least eight teams across the country, ranging from the Los Angeles Angels to the New York Mets, are slated to play their first home games Friday. Some of the Catholic dioceses in those areas echoed Pittsburgh’s meat ban.
Good Friday is a somber occasion for Catholics, who in addition to skipping meat are supposed to eat only one full meal and two smaller meals on that day and other Fridays in Lent. This year, many dioceses granted an exception for the Friday of St. Patrick’s Day so observers could eat the traditional corned beef and shepherd’s pie. And several dioceses waived the no-meat-on-Fridays requirement altogether in 2020, saying the coronavirus pandemic had already forced enough sacrifice.
No such exceptions appear to have been made for Friday’s baseball games. After the Pittsburgh diocese shared its stance, people jokingly replied that the Pirates’ abysmal record in recent years should satisfy the Lenten requirement to reflect on suffering. Last year, the team went 62-100.
“Being a Pirates fan my whole life has been sacrifice enough,” one person wrote to the diocese. “I’m eating a hot dog at the ballpark Friday.”
“God disowned the Pirates 30 years ago,” someone else said. “It’s all good.”
Cleveland-area Catholics are similarly out of luck. While the Cleveland Guardians will play their first home game of the season against the Seattle Mariners on Friday, Catholic officials there said they would not make an exception to the mandate to abstain from meat.
Nancy Fishburn, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Cleveland, said she would attend the game anyway — and try her first vegan hot dog.
“Still debating on whether to add the vegan chili,” she said, “since it will be my ‘meal’ of the day.”
The Guardians’ stadium planned ahead to also offer other meatless options. A representative for Progressive Field said fish sandwiches would be available at its burger stand.
The Diocese of Brooklyn, where the New York Mets will play the Miami Marlins on Friday, and the Archdiocese of San Francisco, where the San Francisco Giants will face off against the Kansas City Royals, also said the requirement to avoid meat still applies.
Luckily for observant Catholics, Oracle Park in San Francisco will have plenty of meatless options to choose from. Shana Daum, a spokeswoman for the Giants, said garlic fries, crab sandwiches and ice cream sundaes are already some of the stadium’s most popular food choices.
Plus, she said, the complex now offers crab fries.
