Versus populum

It has been said that the reason the Pope always faced the people when celebrating Mass in St Peter's was that early Christians faced eastward when praying and, due to the difficult terrain, the basilica was built with its apse to the west. Some have attributed this orientation in other early Roman churches to the influence of Saint Peter's.[4] However, the arrangement whereby the apse with the altar is at the west end of the church and the entrance on the east is found also in Roman churches contemporary with Saint Peter's (such as the original Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls) that were under no such constraints of terrain, and the same arrangement remained the usual one until the sixth century.[5] According to Klaus Gamber, in this early layout the people were situated not in the central nave but in the side aisles of the church and, while the priest faced both the altar and east throughout the Mass, the people faced the altar (from the sides) until the high point of the Mass, when they would turn to face east, the direction in which the priest was already facing.[6] This view is strongly criticized on the grounds of the unlikelihood that, in churches where the altar was to the west, they would turn their backs on the altar (and the priest) at the celebration of the Eucharist.[7]

It was in the 8th or 9th century that the position whereby the priest faced the apse, not the people, when celebrating Mass was adopted in Rome,[8] under the influence of the Frankish Empire,[9] where it had become general.[10] However, in several churches in Rome, it was physically impossible, even before the twentieth-century liturgical reforms, for the priest to celebrate Mass facing away from the people, because of the presence, immediately in front of the altar, of the "confession" (Latin: confessio), an area sunk below floor level to enable people to come close to the tomb of the saint buried beneath the altar. The best-known such "confession" is that in St Peter's Basilica, but many other churches in Rome have the same architectural feature, including at least one, the present Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, which, although the original Constantinian basilica was arranged like St Peter's, is oriented since 386 in such a way that the priest faces west when celebrating Mass.

The earliest Christian churches were not built with any particular orientation in mind, but by the fifth century it became the rule in the Eastern Roman Empire to have the altar at the east end of the church, an arrangement that became normal but not universal in northern Europe.[10] The old Roman custom of having the altar at the west end and the entrance at the east was sometimes followed as late as the 11th century even in areas under Frankish rule, as seen in Petershausen (Constance), Bamberg Cathedral, Augsburg Cathedral, Regensburg Cathedral, and Hildesheim Cathedral (all in present-day Germany).[11] In the east also, the original Constantinian Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem had its apse to the west until it was Byzantinized in 1048.[12][13][14][15]

In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, the altar is "the center of thanksgiving that the Eucharist accomplishes" and the point around which the other rites are in some manner arrayed.[16] Its importance was made evident by Romano Guardini (1885–1968), about whom Robert R. Kuehn wrote: "with him [Guardini] on the altar, the sacred table became the center of the universe" [...] The impact of the sacred action was all the more profound because Guardini celebrated the Mass versus populum – facing the people."[17]

The present (2002) General Instruction of the Roman Missal says, in the official English translation: "The altar should be built separate from the wall, in such a way that it is possible to walk around it easily and that Mass can be celebrated at it facing the people, which is desirable wherever possible."[18] Where practicable, the church altar should be built in such a way that the priest can easily walk around it and can celebrate Mass versus populum, but the text does not oblige the priest to avail of these possibilities.[19]

In practice, after the Second Vatican Council, altars that obliged the priest to have his back to the people were generally moved away from the wall or reredos, or, where this was unsuitable, a new freestanding altar was built closer to the people. This, however, is not universal, and in some churches and chapels it is physically impossible for the priest to face the people throughout the Mass, as before 1970 some churches, especially in Rome, had altars at which it was physically impossible for the priest not to face the people throughout the Mass.

The present Roman Missal prescribes that the priest should face the people at six points of the Mass:

• When giving the opening greeting (GIRM 124);
• When giving the invitation to pray, Orate, fratres (GIRM 146);
• When giving the greeting of peace, Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum (GIRM 154);
• When displaying the consecrated Host (or Host and Chalice) before Communion and saying: Ecce Agnus Dei (GIRM 157);
• When inviting to pray (Oremus) before the prayer after communion (GIRM 165);
• When giving the final blessing (Ordo Missae 141).

The Tridentine Roman Missal requires the priest to face the people, without looking at them, since he is directed to have his eyes cast down to the ground (Ritus servandus, V, 1; VII, 7; XII, 1), and, if he is at the same side of the altar as the people, to turn his back to the altar, eight times:

• When greeting the people (Dominus vobiscum) before the collect (Ritus servandus in celebratione Missae, V, 1);
• When greeting the people (Dominus vobiscum) before the offertory rite (Ritus servandus, VII, 1);
• When giving the invitation to pray, Orate, fratres (Ritus servandus, VII, 7);
• Twice before giving Communion to others, first when saying the two prayers after the Confiteor, and again while displaying a consecrated Host and saying Ecce Agnus Dei; (Ritus servandus, X, 6);
• When greeting the people (Dominus vobiscum) before the prayer after communion (Ritus servandus, XI, 1);
• When saying Ite, missa est (Ritus servandus, XI, 1);
• When giving the last part of the final blessing (Ritus servandus, XII, 1).

The Tridentine and the Vatican II editions of the Roman Missal expressly direct the priest to face the altar at exactly the same points. His position in relation to the altar and the people determines whether facing the altar means also facing the people.

In the second half of the 17th century, it became customary to place the tabernacle on the main altar of the church. When a priest celebrates Mass at such an altar with his back to the people, he sometimes necessarily turns his back directly to the Blessed Sacrament, as when he turns to the people at the Orate fratres. This seeming disrepect is absent when the priest stands on the side of the altar away from the people; but locating so large an object on the altar is arguably inconvenient for a celebration in which the priest faces the people. Accordingly, the revised Roman Missal states:

[I]t is preferable that the tabernacle be located, according to the judgment of the Diocesan Bishop,

a. Either in the sanctuary, apart from the altar of celebration, in a form and place more appropriate, not excluding on an old altar no longer used for celebration;

b. Or even in some chapel suitable for the faithful’s private adoration and prayer and which is organically connected to the church and readily visible to the Christian faithful. (GIRM 315)

The Missal does, however, direct that the tabernacle be situated "in a part of the church that is truly noble, prominent, readily visible, beautifully decorated, and suitable for prayer" (GIRM 314).

Historically, priests in the Church of England and other churches of the Anglican Communion celebrated the Holy Eucharist ad orientem, including the praying of the Gloria Patri, Gloria in Excelsis and Ecumenical creeds in that direction.[20] However, over "the course of the last forty years or so, a great many of those altars have either been removed and pulled out away from the wall or replaced by the kind of freestanding table-like altar", in "response to the popular sentiment that the priest ought not turn his back to the people during the service; the perception was that this represented an insult to the laity and their centrality in worship. Thus developed today’s widespread practice in which the clergy stand behind the altar facing the people."[21]

The United Methodist Book of Worship mandates that:

In our churches, the Communion table is to be placed in such a way that the presider is able to stand behind it, facing the people, and the people can visually if not physically gather around it. The table should be high enough so that the presider does not need to stoop to handle the bread and cup. Adaptations may be necessary to facilitate gracious leadership. While architectural integrity should be respected, it is important for churches to carefully adapt or renovate their worship spaces more fully to invite the people to participate in the Holy Meal. If altars are for all practical purposes immovable, then congregations should make provisions for creating a table suitable to the space so that the presiding minister may face the people and be closer to them.[22]

In the Lutheran German Mass (Deutsche Messe), Martin Luther, the founder of that denomination, wrote that:

Here [in Wittenberg] we retain the vestments, altar, and candles until they are used up or we are pleased to make a change. But we do not oppose anyone who would do otherwise. In the true mass, however, of real Christians, the altar should not remain where it is, and the priest should always face the people as Christ doubtlessly did in the Last Supper.[23]

In discussing the Divine Service, Lorraine S. Brugh and Gordon W. Lathrop write that "Many Lutherans, in concert with many other Christians, think that the time of which Luther spoke has indeed come, and that the pastor should preside at the table facting the people, i.e., versus populum. The assembly needs to have a sense that it is gathered around that table, sees and hears what happens there, has a promise of Christ clearly addressed to it, participates in the thanksgiving, and is made into a community through God's gift."[24] Thus, in the Lutheran Church, many altars are now built to be freestanding. In churches where the former altar attached to the wall cannot be moved, it has often been converted to be used as a credence table, as a "significant new table is set up, closer to the people and standing free".[25]