Some American Catholic leaders granted dispensations for St. Patrick's Day as it fell on a Friday during Lent this year for the first time in six years.

Catholics typically are required to avoid meat on Fridays, but with a celebratory Friday, some dioceses made exceptions.

“I have issued a dispensation from the Lenten obligation to abstain from eating meat… Friday, March 17,” Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan said in a tweet that was posted ahead of St. Patrick’s Day. “I am pleased to grant this dispensation for this Friday of Lent only, so that celebrations of St. Patrick can be fully enjoyed by the faithful of the @BrooklynDiocese.”

The last time that St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday during Lent was 2017. NBC New York reported that other U.S. bishops also offered the exception.

"To honor his work of making disciples of Jesus, and in accord with the norm of the law (Canon 1253), I grant to all Catholics of the Diocese of Green Bay a dispensation from abstinence from meat and meat products on the Feast of St. Patrick in the year of 2023,” Green Bay Bishop David Ricken said in a decree put out by the diocese. "I further prescribe that those who make use of this dispensation engage in another sacrificial, penitential, spiritual or charitable act that day, such as praying the Rosary for the intention of vocations, participating in the Stations of the Cross, making a Holy Hour or donating the cost of the meal that day to the Rice Bowl initiative.” 

St. Patrick’s Day is observed every year on March 17, the day the patron saint of Ireland is reputed to have died. NBC New York said the event is well recognized for its cultural significance. Celebrations usually include things like parades, partying and the consumption of traditional Irish cuisine such as corned beef, cabbage and beer. In the U.S., people often wear green attire, and the city of Chicago even dyes the Chicago River green.