turkey indult

Each year, we revisit the burning question of our generation: Did the “Turkey Indult” really happen? In 1958, did Pope Pius XII allow Catholics to eat meat the Friday after Thanksgiving? Of course it’s real. I saw it on Facebook. The answer is no…and yes. The Turkey Indult did happen, but not how we think. A definitive answer Let’s cut to the chase. Contrary to many blog posts and memes out there, we can confidently say that there was a papal turkey indult in 1958, thanks to this Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper article.

In November of last year, I shared a provocative hypothesis: thanks to the discovery of new evidence, it was possible for the first time to confirm that the long-rumored American Turkey Indult directly from the Pope did in fact occur, although not quite the way we thought.