Paenitemini

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The Paenitemini Apostolic Constitution of February 17, 1966 is a document from Paul VI. , with which the times and the extent of fasting and abstinence from meat dishes in the church year of the Roman Catholic Church are redefined. These new regulations were made as a result of the deliberations and resolutions of the Second Vatican Council .

Content and purpose

Based on the theme of penance in the Old and New Testaments , Paul VI explains. in the following chapters briefly the meaning and purpose of penance and asceticism for the individual and the whole Church. He emphasizes the importance of the "external exercise of penance observed for centuries within the framework of the church order, also with regard to fasting and the renunciation of meat, where it is possible and appropriate", should be maintained. On the other hand, where the local bishops' conferences deemed it necessary, abstinence and fasting should be replaced by “exercises of prayer and works of love”. In order to maintain a minimum of common penance, the Constitution sets out below binding regulations in relation to mandatory fasting and abstinence throughout the Roman Catholic Church.

Individual to meet private or publicly filed vows or the Constitutions of religious communities has Paenitemini no effect. In the oriental churches, the patriarch with his synod or the highest authority of a church together with the bishops have the right to determine the days of fasting and abstinence.

Regulations

1.
§ 1. All believers are required to repent by virtue of divine law.
§ 2. The regulations that are to be observed in this matter by virtue of ecclesiastical law are reorganized by the following provisions.

II.
§ 1. Lent continues to retain its penitential character.
§ 2. The days of penance to be observed in the whole church are all Fridays of the whole year and Ash Wednesday or, depending on the difference in the rite, the first day of the great quadragese . Your essential observation represents a heavy obligation.
§ 3. Without prejudice to the powers contained in No. VI and VIII, the penance is to be paid on these days in such a way that abstinence is maintained on all Fridays that are not required holidays and fasting, on the other hand, on Ash Wednesday or, depending on the difference in the rite, on the first day of the great square and on Good Friday .

III.
§ 1. The abstinence requirement forbids the consumption of meat, but not of eggs, lacticines and spices, even if they are made from animal fat.
§ 2. The law of fasting prescribes that only one full meal per day is consumed; However, it does not forbid eating some food in the morning and evening, although the tried and tested local customs must be observed with regard to the type and quantity of food.

IV.
The abstinence requirement obliges those who have reached the age of fourteen; Everyone from the age of twenty-first to the beginning of the age of sixty is bound by the law of fasting. However, as far as young people are concerned, the ministers and parents must try hard to give them a real understanding of repentance.

Web links

See also