The practice dates back to the first century CE, when Pope Nicholas I declared that Catholics were required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in memory of the death and crucifixion of Christ.
Reinstating meat-free Fridays within the Catholic Church could mitigate millions of metric tons of carbon emissions annually, a University of Cambridge study says.
In 2011, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales called on congregations to return to foregoing meat on Fridays. Only around a quarter of Catholics changed