In the City of Churches, many Fort Wayne residents observe Lent in the weeks leading up to Easter.
This is a period of repentance and sacrifice, with many Christians giving up certain foods or habits. They’re also expected to not eat meat on Fridays.
This week’s NorthEATS Indiana focuses on why Christians give up meat, and why they turn to fish instead.
Fish frys are popular during Lent, so I went to one at St. Joseph’s in Fort Wayne. It’s where I met Father Tim Wrozek, a priest at the parish. To him, the Friday fish fry is a sign that it’s Lent. Wrozek explains that Christians are not supposed to eat warm-blooded animals on Fridays.
“In a lot of places in the Old Testament, they wouldn’t eat something that was animal, and especially if it were used for sacrifice, and hence therefore we think Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the cross,” he said.
Wrozek says Catholics would abstain from eating meat every Friday because Jesus was crucified on that day. However, in recent years it’s more typical to avoid meat just during Lent.
“A lot of people still don’t eat meat on Fridays, any Friday, and if I can, I don’t either, but that’s just because I was raised in a time when I couldn’t,” Wrozek said.
Stephanie Patka works for the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. She says Catholics deny themselves meat on Fridays as a way to try to be more like Jesus.
“It’s meant to be one of those self-denial or self-sacrifices, which of course we try to emulate Jesus and use it as an opportunity to grow closer to Him, and in our denying ourselves of meat,” she said.
"Meat was considered a luxury."
But to understand why Christians replaced meat with fish, we have to go back to what Father Wrozek said about warm-blooded animals. Technically Christians could eat any cold-blooded animals, but Americans don’t typically eat snakes and turtles.
Patka says it’s not just about eating seafood, it’s about eating simple food.
“Fish is considered a more simple, or a more humble option, than meat, but historically meat was considered a luxury,” Patka said.
Eating a lobster dinner is not an option for Patka. She says eating an expensive meal--even though it doesn’t include warm-blooded animals--is not reflective of the spirit of self-sacrifice.
There is also some symbolism in eating fish. When Christians were persecuted for their religion, they would use a secret sign resembling a fish to let other Christians know who they were. And Patka says Jesus chose his disciples because they were fishermen.
“And said you won’t just be fishermen, you will be fishers of men, and so there’s another correlation there,” Patka said.
According to the Pew Research Center, about 70 percent of Americans identify as Christians. While not all of them observe all of the Lenten traditions, there are a large enough number to create a change in restaurant menus this time of year.
McDonald’s was one of the first fast food chains to offer a fish sandwich. The franchise owner of a store in Ohio started selling fish on Fridays after noticing a decrease in profits during Lent. The store’s success led to the sale of the filet-o’-fish at McDonald’s nationwide.
Now, several national chains and local restaurants offer more meatless options on Fridays. And of course, there’s always the local fish frys, where people of all religions are welcome to eat fish on Fridays.
