[Verginius Rufus]

No, it was a mortal sin. Eat meat once on a Friday and die without it being forgiven and you would go to hell. They haven't said whether, when they reimpose the obligation, it will be considered a mortal sin any time you violate it (other than from forgetting that it is Frida).

There were also some days when it was permitted to eat meat at the main meal but it was a sin to eat meat at any of the other meals. I don't think too many people really understood the rules on that.

[martiangohome]

If I recall from my long-gone Catholic youth, it wasn’t the eating of the meat that was the mortal sin, but the intentional disobedience of the rules. I always found it silly as did most of my youthful friends, most of which are basic lapsed Catholics today.