DECREE
I, the Most Reverend Kevin William Vann, J.C.D., D.D., fourth Bishop of Orange in California by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See:
Whereas April 10, 2020, Good Friday, is a day of mandatory fast and abstinence, on which Catholics are obliged to abstain from all meats and meat products and to limit themselves to one full meal and two smaller meals not equal to a full meal (cf. canon 1251 of the Code of Canon Law);
Whereas, we are in the midst of a major health crisis requiring the constant and generous attention of all professionals whose service is necessary for the treatment of those infected and in danger of contracting COVID-19, and
Whereas, health care workers in the Diocese of Orange who are on the front lines of this pandemic might find adherence to the discipline of fast absence especially challenging in light of their consuming schedules,
DECREE
That, in accordance with canon 87 §1 of the same Code of Canon Law, all Catholics in the health care profession are dispensed from the above-mentioned penance on Good Friday, April 10, 2020.
Given in Garden Grove on this seventh day of April in the year of Our Lord 2020.
Most Reverend Kevin William Vann, J.C.D., D.D. Bishop of Orange in California
Very Reverend Daniel B. Reader, Chancellor