Question: I have noticed that in some churches the presider has his chair positioned in front of the tabernacle. Thus, the congregation would appear to be genuflecting to him. Other churches have musicians playing adjacent to/sharing the sanctuary. Some churches have large overhead screens in the sanctuary. What do the Vatican documents state regarding what is allowed in the sanctuary of a Catholic Church?
Answer: There is no “one size fits all” answer to this question because our church buildings have such diverse designs and layouts.
Larger, more contemporary churches have bigger sanctuaries, or several delineated spaces between the benches and the altar, to allow for a greater number of lay ministers, sometimes including a schola or small choir. If the sanctuary runs the full width of the building, and if the hymns are to be projected onto a screen, there is no alternative but to have the screen hanging in or above the sanctuary.
The position of the tabernacle is a more neuralgic issue. The Church documents prefer that the tabernacle is not directly behind the altar, but in its own, distinct space. The documents call for a distinction between liturgical action and sacramental reservation.
The altar, not the tabernacle, is the focal point of the liturgy, but we lost sight of this during the 400 years when tabernacles were always placed on the altar.
It is not ideal for the priest to stand or sit with his back to the tabernacle, but the shapes and sizes of many of our older buildings provide little alternative.
When we build new churches, however, we should ensure that the altar, the ambo, and the presidential chair are all seen as places of liturgical action, while the tabernacle should be in a special place of its own where it becomes the centre of devotional prayer when no liturgy is being celebrated.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) states: “The tabernacle should be situated in a part of the church that is noble, prominent, and suitable for prayer, and it should be easily accessible to the faithful”.
Answered by Fr Thomas Plastow SJ
Published in the June 2026 issue of The Southern Cross Magazine
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