ARTICLES

Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

Most Local Parishoners Agree with Bishops' Comments on Tabernacle Placement

By Robert Kumpel

At last November's meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, American prelates discussed a preliminary draft of Domus Dei, a document on church architecture and design that was to replace 1978's Environment and Art in Catholic Worship. Many bishops expressed concerns about the first draft of the document. Most notably, of the 31 bishops who spoke, none defended the removal of the tabernacle from central view in the church. Among their comments:

Bishop Sean O'Malley
Fall River, Massachussetts
"All of us have heard the comments of our people very frequently: 'This place does not look like a church.... The changes have come fast and furious.... The communion rail has been taken away, the Eucharistic fast from midnight, the frequent Confession as a preparation for Communion, the genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament.... Even what we have done with the Holy Days, in changing them in, as I think, a very arbitrary way, has been very damaging to the faith of our people."

Archbishop Michael Sheehan
Santa Fe, New Mexico
"I think that when we take the Eucharist away from the place where the people come for Sunday Mass, we tend to lessen their belief. And I think that 'out of sight, out of mind' is truly what's happening often."

Archbishop Elden Curtiss
Omaha, Nebraska
"I think it's misleading to say that all four expressions of Christ's presence the assembly, the Word of God, the person of the priest and the Sacrament of the Body and Blood) are equal, and that all four expressions of His presence should have prominence of place.... Prominence of place has to be the altar and the tabernacle where the Eucharistic presence is.... I think the basic problem with the document is this liturgical development that has taken us towards emphasis on the assembly and away from the Eucharistic species."

Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, CSB
Las Cruces, New Mexico
"When everything is emphasized, nothing is emphasized."


In a random sampling of San Diego Catholics, the majority of those interviewed prefered the tabernacle in the center of the church. Some of their comments::

Jean Perez
"It belongs behind the main altar of the church, because Christ is the center of our faith and should be the center of our lives. If He's not up in the front so we can see Him -- if He's way off on the side -- then it's as if you were to visit someone's house and they're off in a side room and you don't get to talk to them. You can talk to Christ anywhere, but when you go into the church, it's supposed to be a house of prayer."

Manny Perez
"I prefer it behind the altar. That's the tradition. The tabernacle is the focal point of being Catholic.... That's where Christ belongs -- in front of the people and not in a side chapel."

Larry Warner
"I think it should be placed in a side chapel. The side chapel is more available to people throught the week. If it's in the center, it's just sort of there. I mean, it's nice during Mass, but it seems like it's less accessible for people who go during the week."

Jason Magat
"Just what's the difference between an altar and a tabernacle?" (After explanation): "How was it in the early church?" (After more explanation): "I think it should be behind the altar. I'm not a radical traditionalist, but I like tradition."

Ernestine Sanchez, Riverside
"Behind the main altar, definitely. Having the tabernacle at the side altar places Christ away from the central point of the altar when people come into the church. When people come to the pews and kneel, they're focussed on the altar, which is a sacred place. Placing Our Lord off to some side room seems just a little bit too distant from the people."

Kimberly Dobhan, Ascension
"I think a side chapel, but I don't really know why. I think that's what I'm most used to seeing."

Sister Thecla Paolini, F.S.P., Pauline Bookstore
"I believe the church gives us the privelege to put it either on the side or behind the main altar. Architecturally, it depends on what kind of church I go into. I prefer it in the center, but if it's on the side, I'm not at all disturbed. Jesus is there, present in the Blessed Sacrament. Even if we don't see Him, we know He's in the church."

Jojo Vaughan, Our Mother of Confidence
"I prefer it behind the main altar, but in my church, the tabernacle is over to the side. I believe Jesus is the center of the Church. Putting Him to the side takes Him from the focal point, and makes the priest and the congregants the focal point of the Mass until the gifts are brought to the altar."

Ivo Toptchev, Our Lady of the Rosary
"I have no opinion about that."

Richard Halvorson, All Saints Episcopal Church
"I prefer it behind the main altar. The priest should be leading the congregation to Christ, to the Sacrament. When the altar was turned around, so the priest faced the audience, the liturgy became almost like a Protestant service, where the priest is up there performing -- not leading the congregation. The sancturary should also be maintained only for worship. Some of our sanctuaries have been turned into meeting halls.

There are too many modern practices -- the folk Mass and things of that nature -- which I think distract. They should be in a different location, not the sanctuary. My father was a Lutheran minister, so I was baptized Lutheran, then became Episcopalian, then Roman Catholic when I got married. My church now is an Anglican or Anglo-Catholic church."

Catherine LoCoco, Our Lady of the Rosary
"I think behind the altar, which is more like the way it was when I was raised. I'm not really much for the new changes. I more or less like the old things. I liked it when one had to kneel behind the communion rail."

Leonardo Sciuto, Our Lady of the Rosary
"The way it is. I like it in the front. It's behind the altar in this parish because the priest has got to see the people, not give his back to the people. The way it is now is the best."

Pita Ruiz, Our Lady of the Rosary
"I prefer the tabernacle in the center of the church. When it's on the side, there's no focus for the main reason we're there, and that's the Blessed Sacrament."

Greg Cranham, SDSU Newman Center
"I would be very careful to stick to the norms of the church, not necessarily to Environment and Art in Catholic Worship -- that's only a guideline, a committee report, not a final document. It's important to look at what the church says through the Vatican, through the actual approved documents of the U.S. bishops. That said, I believe a historic church that was designed to have the tabernacle in the middle should not be gutted to move it off to the side.

"In a new church, I can see a purpose in having a separate reservation chapel, however, the best designs I've seen allow the tabernacle to be visible from the main part of the church, sometimes behind the main altar, with the chapel accessible through a separate, outdoor entrance, to allow people to celebrate Mass in small groups or to spend time in adoration. But it's important to have it directly and intrinsically associated with the main body of the church."

Colleen Cunningham, Mission San Diego
"I think the tabernacle should be behind the altar. When we enter a church, we should genuflect, because Christ is Our King and Lord. Who are we genuflecting to? The king who is on the altar in front of us -- not to the side. It's appalling that people don't genuflect when they come into church. I don't think they realize the importance of doing that. Having it on the side is disrespectful and not sacred. Some people might not even know where the tabernacle is."

Ignacio Romo, Mission San Diego
"Probably in a chapel for adoration. Personally, I like to [step] aside and have a personal moment with Christ Himself, without all the interruptions of the people in the church. I think it isolates a place with God where you can be personal with Him."

Bob Conover, SDSU Newman Center
"I have no preference. When I went to St. Peter's in the Vatican, I saw that the tabernacle is on the side, to the right when you come in. The Pieta is on the first right, and the tabernacle is right next to the Pieta, I believe. It's in its own little chapel in a way. I thought, 'If that's how they do it in Rome, we can do that here, too.' It's in an honored position over there. If it's behind the altar, that's fine too, because it's very noticeable. Either one's O.K. for me."

Elaine Woehrer, St. Patrick's
I believe it should be behind the altar. At the cathedral downtown it is on the left. Many people genuflect toward the front at the altar, but the priest and the altar boys genuflect to the left, toward the tabernacle. The Last Supper was done at a table, so the altar is holy and very sacred. I feel it should be right behind the table. The first thing we should do when we go to church is genuflect, because we're facing God. God is within us, but the last supper is most important."

Juanita Peer, St. Mary's, National City
"It should be in the center, so that no one will give it their backs, only their faces. I grew up with that belief."

Ethel Walsh, Sacred Heart, Aguanga
"It should be on the altar, because that's where it belongs. That's where the Lord resides, that's where everyone sees it."

Patrick Valenzuela, catechumen, Mission San Diego
"I haven't really thought about it. I'm still pretty new. I guess you can get two birds with one stone if you get the tabernacle up there in front of everybody. People can just sit back and adore [the Sacrament] that way."

Milda Tomkus, Mission San Diego
"I definitely believe it should be directly behind the main altar. The Latin-rite mass always had it that way. God should be worshipped, and that's why He needs to be in the middle of the church, right behind the altar."

Johnny Hochgraefe, Mission San Diego
"Right where it is in my parish--front and center. When I walk into a Catholic church, I want to know where to find Him -- capital 'H'. I don't want to have to go looking for Our Lord in the Eucharist.

Tuan Nguyen, Holy Spirit
"I prefer it in the the middle. It could be on the side, too -- either way is perfect, but I prefer it in the center."

Jason Evert, St. Brigid/Mary, Star of the Sea
"I prefer it front and center. That's where you would put a king if you were in his kingdom. You'd put his throne right in the middle -- you wouldn't hide him in some cubbyhole in the back."

Tim O'Brien, St. Brigid
"I like it right behind the altar, front and center. I believe Jesus Christ is the center of our faith and he should be the center of our worship."

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