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As someone suggested in the comments, it might be better from a moral point of view to have the priest and the people facing the same way.
I think that main problem with having the priest face the people is that it feeds narcissism to be aware that all eyes are on you, and too many priests (and other clergy) are narcissists.
When the pope suggested that it might be a good idea to have the priest and people face the same way, the screams in America could be heard all the way to Rome. This indicated to me that it was not a disagreement about what might be pastorally better, but a question of denying priest the pleasure of being aware he was the cynosure everyone’s eyes.
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In response to the query for a reference for Benedict’s comments, see http://www.adoremus.org/0500-Ratzinger.html or just google Ratzinger and Ad Orientem
Hmmm, I agree with that
It was no big deal at my parish. I’ve pretty much forgotten the priest ever faced the congregation.
Can you provide a link regarding the pope’s suggestion?
Lee, if the problem is narcissism, then having the priests and the congregation facing the same direction won’t abate it, let alone cure it. The fundamental problem is an excessive, inappropriate reverence for the clergy by the laity. Church leaders cultivate that reverence not only to satisfy their egos but also to keep the laity “in its place,” thereby preventing accountability from below.
If narcissism is as much of a problem as you say, Lee, then that problem reaches all the way to every chancellory in the world — and even to the seat of the papacy itself.
By the way, can anybody please explain to me what the Hell is so significant about a “clown Mass”? Who organizes these things and why? What’s the point?