Is Fake Meat Still Meat - As Far as the Lenten Regulations are Concerned?

A few news outlets are running stories asking if plant based meat substitutes fulfill the Lenten requirement to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent. 

The short answer is YES, they fulfill the requirement, if they are truly vegetarian or vegan products. The director of the Office of Divine Worship for the Archdiocese of Chicago agrees, adding the caveat that it may not fulfill the "SPIRIT" of the regulation in question.

The reason we abstain from meat is predicated on the idea that meat is more expensive than other protein sources. We are supposed to eat more simply during Lent, taking the money we save and giving it to the poor. There are other reasons as well, but to focus on this one aspect - economic solidarity with the poor - the question I would ask is, are the plant based meat substitutes less expensive than the real thing? It's not a rhetorical question: I've never had then or priced them. In the same way, lobster is permitted under the current rules, but does it really fulfill the spirit of what the Lenten abstinence is for?

So, be sensible. We also deny ourselves during Lent to unify our sufferings with those of Christ who died on the Cross. Paul writes of his own sufferings as making up for what is "laking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body...the church." (Col. 1:24).  This is not to say the Jesus' sufferings weren't enough, but that He allows us, by our sufferings, to share in the spiritual good that His passion brought about. We are all part of the Body of Christ, so that the prayers, fasting and alms giving of one part of the Body has positive effects, both practically and spiritually, for other members of the Church, and the world. 

So, if eating a fake hamburger helps you in that, go for it. If it doesn't, then avoid it.