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Mackerel Snapper
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Mackerel Snapper is a sectarian slur for Roman Catholics, originating in the United States in the 1850s. It referred to the pre-Vatican II Catholic discipline of Friday abstinence from red meat and poultry, for which fish was substituted. That practice distinguished Catholics from other Christians, especially in North America, where Protestant churches prevailed and Catholics tended to be poor immigrants from Italy, Poland, and Ireland. One example of the term's use comes from a letter to University of Notre Dame's president Father Matthew Walsh from an anonymous Klansman who was upset with the actions of Notre Dame students in breaking up a Klan rally in South Bend. Catholics are still called to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and every Friday of Lent. Fridays throughout the year are days of penance, but forms of penance now vary, and may include works of charity instead of fasting and abstinence. |
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