John-Michael McDevitt, 11, of Seekonk, and Savannah Rogers, 9, of Seekonk, above, had a front-row view.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

’Tis no sin to taste a Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day or a zeppole on St. Joseph’s Day. Indeed, some say they’re heavenly.

But matters of culture and faith aren’t that simple and clear-cut this year because, for the first time since 1940, St. Patrick’s Day falls during Holy Week — the sacred seven days preceding Easter. And St. Joseph’s Day is right in the middle of Holy Week, just a day before Holy Thursday.

As a result, the Vatican has said the Solemnity of St. Joseph will be celebrated on Saturday, March 15, rather than Wednesday, March 19. And the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has recommended the “nonobligatory memorial” to St. Patrick be celebrated on Friday, March 14, rather than on Monday, March 17.

Also, the Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, is willing to issue dispensations allowing Catholics to eat meat on Friday, March 14, in parishes that do celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. (Catholics are required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent.)

So that addresses the Masses and the corned beef. But what about the parades?

Cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia and Milwaukee are planning to hold St. Patrick’s Day parades earlier than usual, preventing any conflict with Holy Week. But cities such as New York City, Boston and Columbus, Ohio, are marching ahead with plans for Holy Week parades — sometimes in the face of criticism.

In Rhode Island, a St. Patrick’s Day parade in West Warwick is scheduled for March 16, which is Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week, while other local parades are taking place earlier. Pawtucket kicked off the season with a St. Patrick’s parade yesterday, Providence’s parade is set for March 8 and Newport’s parade is set for March 15.

In an interview last week, the Rev. Bernard A. Healey — theological consultant to the diocese’s weekly newspaper, the Rhode Island Catholic, and the diocese’s State House lobbyist — said “it’s probably not optimal” for the West Warwick parade to be taking place on Palm Sunday.

But the West Warwick parade is stepping off at 1 p.m. So, Healey said, “At least it seems to be respecting the opportunity for people to get to Mass in the morning, which is more than I can say for a lot of sports leagues.”

Bishop Tobin has made no public statements about St. Patrick’s Day parades this year, and neither has the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Parades are not liturgical,” explained Sister Mary Ann Walsh, the conference’s media relations director.

Healey noted that Easter comes earlier than usual this year, falling on March 23, so other parts of the liturgical calendar are being changed, and he said those changes were not meant to downgrade the importance of St. Patrick or St. Joseph.

“But Holy Week is the most holy week — that’s why it’s called Holy Week,” Healey said. “It is supposed to be a time when Catholics and Christian people around the world enter more fully into the mysteries of the Christian faith — that Christ suffered, died and rose from the dead.”

He said if people really want to honor the saints on those days, they should do what the saints would do: pray and reflect on their faith.

“St. Patrick’s Day is often a very joyous and boisterous celebration, and deservedly so,” Healey said. “But Palm Sunday really begins a solemn week of prayer and preparation for the great feast of Easter. And I would think that St. Patrick himself wouldn’t be having a party during Holy Week.”

While they have religious foundations, St. Patrick’s Day and St. Joseph’s Day have become more secular celebrations of ethnic heritage, he said.

Healey, who is proudly Irish-American, said, “It’s great to celebrate being Irish, but it’s even better to celebrate being Catholic. I would just remind all Catholics during Holy Week — whether they’re Irish, Italian or another ethnicity — we hope they are Catholic first and ethnic second.”

So is it OK to tip a pint of Guinness during Holy Week? “Well, all things in moderation,” Healey said. “It is Holy Week. Unfortunately, the Irish St. Patrick’s Day can sometimes lose its religious significance and become boisterous. People can drink in excess. Irish pubs are full of people. It’s OK to celebrate, but celebrate in moderation.”

And what about zeppoles, those tasty Italian pastries? “I don’t think eating a zeppole is an unholy act, unless you’ve given up sweets for Lent,” Healey said. But, he added, “St. Joseph wasn’t eating a zeppole on Spy Wednesday, when Judas was betraying Jesus.”

Healey also noted that the Catholic Church includes more than just people of Irish and Italian descent. “We belong to a universal church,” he said. “Catholics are French, Polish, Portuguese, Colombians, Guatemalans, Nigerians, Liberians, Vietnamese, El Salvadorians.” Paraphrasing James Joyce, he said, “Here come the Catholics, here comes everybody.”

For 49 years now, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of the Pawtuxet Valley has been sponsoring a parade that starts in Coventry but is mostly in West Warwick. “It’s always the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day,” parade chairman Michael P. O’Connell said. And that’s not going to change this year, even though it’s on Palm Sunday.

In an interview, O’Connell said he didn’t think Palm Sunday was part of Holy Week. But Father Healey confirmed that it is indeed.

O’Connell said no one brought up the fact that the parade coincided with Palm Sunday until a couple of months ago, and by that time the planning was well under way. “If it’s after St. Patrick’s Day, why bother? To move it earlier, it’s colder,” he said.

O’Connell said he has heard that a priest at one Catholic school in the area doesn’t want schoolchildren marching in the parade because it’s on Palm Sunday. But, he said, “To me, it’s a non-issue.” He said a snowstorm pushed the parade back to a Palm Sunday once in the early 1990s “and it was no big deal.”

The parade won’t interfere with Palm Sunday Masses, and it doesn’t involve a lot of drinking, O’Connell said. “West Warwick is more a family parade,” he said.

State Rep. Peter F. Kilmartin, a Pawtucket Democrat who is grand marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day parade that took place yesterday in Pawtucket, said the unwritten rule is that Pawtucket’s parade is on the first Saturday of March, Providence’s parade follows on the second Saturday, Newport’s parade is on the third Saturday, and West Warwick’s parade is the day after the Newport parade.

So, as a practical matter, it would be difficult to move the date of one of the parades, and parade committees use some of the same bands and musical groups, Kilmartin said. Also, he said, “Let’s face it, he’s St. Patrick. You are celebrating the life of a saint who brought Christianity to Ireland. So I don’t see any incompatibility with it.”

Patrick Griffin, chairman of the Providence parade and owner of Patrick’s Pub on Smith Hill, said he’s glad the Providence parade doesn’t have to contend with the Holy Week issue. “I’m a good Catholic boy from County Roscommon in Ireland,” he said, “and I don’t want to compete with the Catholic Church.”

But Patrick’s Pub won’t close on St. Patrick’s Day. “Obviously, you are able to go to Mass or whatever you have to do on Holy Week as well as celebrate your heritage on St. Patrick’s Day,” he said. But, he added, “I think it would be a good idea to do a little extra penance if you are planning to go out and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.”

James F. Mahoney, a former Democratic state representative from Newport who is grand marshal of this year’s Newport parade, said there was no need to switch the date of the Newport event, but he would have favored moving it if it had conflicted with Holy Week.

In any case, the question won’t arise again for quite a while because St. Patrick’s Day won’t fall within Holy Week for another 152 years. “I can guarantee I won’t be around to see it happen again,” Kilmartin said. “I don’t have that much luck of the Irish.”

efitzpat@projo.com