Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Fridays?
A Fish-y Tale of Politics and Religion
When I was a student at Tufts University studying ecclesiastical history, I became disenchanted with many practices of the Catholic Church. One of the things that stuck with me, which I’ve only now discovered is a clever yet plausible rumor, was that one of the medieval popes -I think it was one of the ironically named Innocents - deemed it necessary to eat fish on Fridays as a way to honor Jesus’ sacrifice and death on Good Friday.
Wait. Hold the phone. What? Why would he do this?
The rumor has it that with the rise of Protestantism, the Church was afraid of losing favor with Southern European countries like Spain, Portugal and Italy. Each of these countries relied on the sale of fish and other seafood for their economic health. In order to keep these countries faithful to the Holy See – and Catholicism, the Pope introduced a bull (edict) saying that Catholics had to eat fish on Fridays during Lent.
Of course, history isn’t that simple, and the explanation isn’t as ‘scandalous’ as all of this. There is truth, however, to the fact that in England at least eating fish on Fridays was seen as an act of political rebellion against Henry VIII.
Let me give you the T. Henry VIII was once a champion for Christendom. His first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was the daughter of none other than Ferdinand and Isabella. Known as the “Catholic” kings, Ferdinand and Isabella finished the reconquest of Spain and unified that nation under the banner of Catholicism by driving out the Muslims in 1492, the same year that Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Back to Henry VIII. When he wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine so that he could wed Anne Boleyn, he waited for the pope to give him the go-ahead. The Pope, probably because of who Catherine’s parents were, did not honor his request for annulment. And what did Henry do? Well, as any sane (and not extremely horny) monarch would do, he broke with the Catholic Church and began his own. Yes, the Anglican Church began as a big old F-you to the Papacy.
Fish, which were plentiful in 16th century England, were deemed a ‘papal fish’ and eating them became an act of rebellion. Henry VIII banned fish eating which hurt English fishermen and their families. However, his son, Edward VI reinstated the practice in 1547. As the law stated, “for worldly ad civil policy, to spare flesh, and use fish, for the good of the commonwealth, where many fishers, and use the trade of living.” Basically, eat fish, y’all so that our fishermen – and economy – do not suffer.
In the 1960s, under Pope Paul VI, fasting rules became laxer. Up until that time, Catholics were supposed to ‘fast’ on Fridays to commemorate Jesus’ great sacrifice – his death on the Cross. He died on a Friday according to all accounts. This practice of abstinence of ‘animal flesh’ became a common practice at this time in no small part due to the plenitude of seafood. On fasting days, which grew from just a few in the Second Century to their height during the High Middle Ages, Catholics generally ate only one ‘meatless’ meal. Many opted for that to be fish as it was a landless protein.
So, the practice stuck and Catholics had meatless Fridays (and a meatless Lenten season) until the 1960s when the National Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a “Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence.” In it, they said that they would not hold American Catholics to the agreed upon on fasting days but would only encourage them to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Lenten Fridays.
As a result, many North American Catholics have only ever know meatless Lenten Fridays. Fish frys at Churches and special restaurant specials featuring seafood happen all through Lent now. Heck, my mom would make us eat the Filet-o-Fish at McDonald’s during Lent. (Ick).
However, it’s important to note that Catholics have never been required to give up meatless Fridays. It’s still considered a way to honor Christ’s sacrifice. Now with more meatless options and the increasing practice of vegetarianism among Catholics as well as other sectors of society, we are seeing a resurgence in fasting practices.
Regardless, the fact remains that this practice of eating fish on Fridays isn’t a dictate from the Early Catholic Church or even Jesus Christ himself. As a Galilean, he was exposed to a lot of seafood but would’ve adhered to Jewish dietary laws, which were stricter than subsequent Catholic ones.
Hopefully this concept is now as clear as mud to you. See you next week! I appreciate your willingness to read this substack.