why do catholics choose to eat fish on good friday, how did this start?

Answer 1

OK, so yeah, it used to be required every Friday of the year, but now is only required on Fridays of Lent and Ash Wednesday. On the other Fridays of the year, Catholics are required to perform some act of penance or charity which can be abstaining from meat or something like working at a soup kitchen, etc. The real reason behind the fish exception comes from the three principle practices of Lent: prayer, mortification (abstinence, fasting, etc.), and almsgiving/charity. Taking these into consideration it is also important to note that for a very long time meat was expensive either to raise or purchase. To raise meat, someone needed money to buy the animals, firstly, then to feed them, then to slaughter them, etc. Meat was often associated with festivals for this reason (the "kill the fatted calf" from the story of the Prodigal Son). Vegetables and fruits, on the other hand, require tending, but less capital in the long run, as they receive most of their "food" from the soil, drink from the rain, and edible plants often grow with little to no tending. Similarly, fish only require someone to catch them, as they take care of their own food needs, etc., in streams, rivers, seas, etc. Bottom line, fish, along with other non-meat items, cost relatively little and the poor could eat them and be able to give alms with the left over money. Of course, now this doesn't make as much sense as it did back in the old days, but it still retains a character of sacrifice and serves as a reminder of it being Friday, the day when Christ dies for us.

Answer 2

This actually started a very, very long time ago (during the Middle Ages, I believe). The Catholic Church was then the only choice of religion, and they owned almost everything. They owned the fishing industry. One day they decided that the people had to eat fish on Fridays, in order to put more money in the pockets of the church.

I don't remember where I read this, as it was a number of years ago.

Answer 3

Actually, it used to be every friday of the year Catholics were supposed to abstain from meat. In some cultures, fish is not considered "meat" and therefore is allowed to be eated on fridays during lent.

Answer 4

It used to be that Catholics abstained from meat every Friday of the year. Then it was changed to only during lent.

It is a sacrifice. We are to remember that Christ died on Friday and we do not eat meat as a small sacrifice to commemorate his ultimate sacrifice.

Answer 5

We don't have to eat fish it's just that we don't eat meat as a way of depriving ourselves. (Most do not mind at all) in remembrance of Christ's crucifixion and death.

Answer 6

They don't anymore. it used to be every friday.