RIVERSIDE—Friday evening fish fries during Lent have become a staple for many Catholic parishes.
It all started prior to prior to Vatican II, when U.S. Bishops had a variety of restrictions concerning fasting (eating one full meal and two smaller meals that don’t equal another full meal) and abstinence (refraining from eating meat on all Fridays and other designated days).
There were a large number of immigrants from Poland, Germany and other Central European counties that migrated to the Midwest of the United States in the 19th century. Because of the proximity to the Great Lakes and a number of other fresh water lakes, eating fish became an alternative to meatless Fridays.
With that, the Lenten Fish Fry was born.
Over time, these Midwesterners began to disperse and settle in other parts of the county, notably in the South and Southwest parts of the United States. And with them, they brought along the tradition of Lenten Fish Fries.
After Vatican II in 1965, some of these restrictions were loosened. But, fasting and abstinence were still mandated for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and all Fridays of Lent.
Some Lenten fish fries are held at Knights of Columbus clubs, but mostly at local church parish halls either alone or with other service organizations. Depending on the venue, there might be several dozen people to as many as 200 or 300 attendees.
During a recent Lenten Fish Fry at St. Catherine of Siena-St. Agnes Parish in Riverside, nearly 70 attendees dined on a feast of salad, seasoned battered haddock and roasted potatoes, along with ice cream cake for dessert.
Pam Sloane is in charge of the parish Hospitality Committee.
“We have a group of about 15 people whose role is to respond to a need for hospitality for various occasions,” Sloane said.
According to Sloane, the idea of the fish fries came about after the Covid pandemic.
“This is our third year of fish fries,” she said. “This is not a fundraiser. The idea is to charge enough just to cover costs. Our purpose is to bring people together, one of the primary messages of the Church.”
According to Father William Platt, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena-St. Agnes, these fish fries serve many purposes.
“These fish fries bring the parish family together around the table and share food and fellowship during the Lenten season,” Platt said. “It’s a great thing.”
The success of these fish fries are dependent upon teams of volunteers. to purchase the food, set up the parish hall, cook and serve guests and do the after-event cleanup.
The meal was prepared by professional chef and caterer Richard Gonzalez, his wife Mary and their son Sebastian.
“I like to cook,” Gonzalez said. “We have been a part of this parish for 25 years. It’s nice to help out and be here with our friends in the parish family.”
On a side note, Catholics are responsible, at least in part, for McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich – a very unusually popular menu item at a burger joint.
When franchise owner Lou Groen opened the first McDonald’s in the Cincinnati area in 1959, a majority of the people in the area were Catholic.
Although his new restaurant was an immediate success, he noticed that on Fridays his sales decreased by about 75 percent. Why? Because of the Catholic Church’s restriction about eating meat on Fridays.
Groen introduced the Filet-O-Fish sandwich in 1962. Fast forward to the present day, over 300 million Filet-O-Fish sandwiches are sold each year and nearly a quarter of all of McDonald’s sales of Filet-O-Fish sandwiches are during Lent – as a result of the Catholic practice of abstinence from meat on Fridays.
By Ron Kuzlik
