OLD FORGE -- It's Friday night in Old Forge, the Pizza Capitol of the World, and the popular eateries are packed with people here to eat pizza. But one thing they're not chowing down on--meat.
“We're out having some pizza with no meat, there's no pepperoni on this pizza,” said Lorraine Duke of Old Forge.
That's right. It's a Friday night during Lent, so hold the pepperoni.
“This is a tray of white pizza with spinach and six red,” said Dino DiMauro of Old Forge. “Because of lent, no meat.”
For Christians, Lent is the time from Ash Wednesday to Easter to mark the time Jesus spent fasting in the desert.
During Lent the religious faithful abstain from eating meat on Fridays. These Catholics know that, but do they know why?
“Well, one of the popes had a fishing fleet way back and we needed to start using some fish up a little bit,” said Al Zangardi of Old Forge.
“I don't want to say the wrong thing because I am a very religious person but I don't really know the real reason, I should know that,” said Mike Wasko of Old Forge.
At the University of Scranton, Dr. Christian Krokus is a professor of theology.
“Fridays because Friday is the day on which Jesus died,” said Krokus. “So traditionally it's been to give up getting meat on those Fridays in response to the sacrifice to the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.”
“It's a sacrifice, people, it's just a tradition. It's a sacrifice where you don't eat meat,” said Duke.
But why? Why does it have to be meat?
“It's funny because meat is so common in our diet now, but I think in early periods of Christian history, meat was an exceptional food. It was a treat. It was the feast,” said Krokus.
“Something that you enjoy to eat, and meat might have been an indication of something luxurious,” said DiMauro.
