Some Spanish dioceses have decided to dispense with the observance of fasting and abstinence on Good Friday, one of the most important penitential days in the liturgical calendar, due to the particular circumstances surrounding the celebration of Holy Week in certain regions. The measure, reported by Aciprensa and officially communicated by the Archdiocese of Seville, is justified by the difficulty that many faithful encounter in fulfilling these practices while participating in the processions.
In the case of Seville, the archbishop, Monsignor José Ángel Saiz Meneses, has promulgated a decree granting this dispensation, taking into account “the way of celebrating Holy Week in our land,” as well as the practice from previous years and that of other surrounding dioceses.
Dispensation with an invitation to maintain penance
Despite the dispensation, the prelate has expressly asked the faithful to maintain, as far as possible, the fasting and abstinence proper to Good Friday. If they cannot do so, they are invited to replace these practices with works of charity, especially directed toward the poor, or other works of mercy.
The decree also recalls the meaning of these practices, which the Church has preserved for centuries as an expression of penance and as a way of spiritually uniting with the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ.
Other dioceses join the measure
A similar decision has been adopted in the diocese of Córdoba. Its bishop, Monsignor Jesús Fernández, has exhorted the faithful to maintain fasting and abstinence whenever it does not entail serious difficulty. Otherwise, he also proposes replacing them with other forms of penance, such as works of charity or practices of piety.
These provisions reflect a pastoral adaptation to a concrete reality: the intense participation of the faithful in the external celebrations of Holy Week, especially in southern Spain.
The framework of Canon Law
The Code of Canon Law establishes that all the faithful are obliged to do penance, setting as principal days the Fridays of the year and the season of Lent. In particular, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days on which both fasting and abstinence are required.
Abstinence is obligatory from the age of 14, while fasting is required from the age of majority until 59 years old. However, the Code itself allows episcopal conferences to specify the manner of observing these practices and even to substitute them, in whole or in part, with other expressions of penance, especially works of charity.
In this context, the dispensations granted by some dioceses are framed within the Church’s authority to adapt penitential discipline to specific pastoral circumstances, without losing sight of the spiritual meaning of these days.