Diocese of Westminster Ordo 2026 excuse themselves without giving great offence to their hosts or causing friction, and those in other situations or moral or physical impossibility are not required to observe abstention from meat; in other words, we should act prudently. The Holy See has noted that the ‘gravity’ of the obligation applies to our intention to observe penance as a regular and necessary part of our spiritual lives as a whole. Therefore, the ‘gravity’ of the obligation does not relate to observing the specific act of penance (abstaining from meat) prescribed by the Conference of Bishops.
The ‘gravity’ of the obligation applies to the intention to do penance during the prescribed penitential days and seasons of the Church’s year. Failure to abstain from meat on a particular Friday then would not constitute a sin. 12