Crucifixes will commonly be displaced to one side of the altar, with an empty panel balancing the other side, ready for the depiction of the Anti-Christ, says I. You can sign in to vote the answer.Still have questions? The reason was extremely practical: mass was normally celebrated in the morning, and a window was set up above and behind the altar so that light would shine on the priest and on the altar during mass. In probably all Catholic and other Christian churches, the Priest faces the congregation. Christian graves also tend to face east, but the geography of the cemetery can be more influential. Why?>><>Tridentine Masses often have the priest situated with his back towards the congregation. However, the property is a low hill on the “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” Church orientation is towards Jerusalem, the City of God, the East, the Orient. Also, I've seen some churches where the priest faces the congregation. :whacky:There was a time when burials were done, if possible, on an east-west axis.The idea was to rise facing eastward on Judgement Day.Christ was expected to come to us from the direction of the rising sun.It seems that we moderns pay lttle to no attention to these things now.The Byzantine Catholic parish I belong to was deliberately constructed to have the altar on the true East, as were both of it’s predecessor parishes. We forget that singular command Christ reiterated from the Old Testament. The sun rises in the east. In some Churches the people sit in a horseshoe shape around the Altar.Edit: I just read that article, and I never knew that about the Orthodox Church thanks for posting it.No, intercourse abuse happens in all varieties of religions and denominations, and that all of them conceal up their grimy secrets and techniques. [quote=puzzleannie]I have heard this but thinking back to all the Catholic parishes I have belonged to since the 50s, I can’t think of one oriented so that the people face east. OUCH!This is a lie which displaces Christ’s prophesied entry into Jerusalem through the now-sealed Eastern Gate. The Catholic Sanctuary and the Second Vatican Council by Michael Davies . For all the belief of the Community of Christ people (as they call themselves now, but once they were RLDS-Reorganized LDS), this Temple Jesus will not touch, for He is supposed to come to the parking lot across the street-that is where the building was supposed to be built, and then perhaps slide down the spiral roof. I’ve taken many self guided tours lately of some of the older Churches in my area, I was always told that a church would normaly be built so that the people (and in those days Priest’s) would be facing East, however I’ve been to 30+ churches over the last few months and have not noticed this being any kind of a majority, in fact the direction the church faces seems random, can anyone advise?I can’t speak for others, but from what I have seen, all Orthodox churches are built facing East, though in the USA there are many mission churches which hold services in existing buildings (such as an old Anglican church) which may not face East.There is an interesting church in Thessaloniki, St George’s, built next to the Rotunda. Do all Catholic churches have the priest facing the congregation or have everyone facing one direction?Why do you feel Catholic houses of worship should face 'east'?<

. For official apologetics resources please visit That is the direction Jesus will come.No, they face extinction, thanks to all of those paedophile priests.How do you think about the answers? why?? This was due to either the layout of the property or, in some cases, the local restrictions.Architecturally, whatever direction the building may face, we speak of the altar end as “East” and the main entry end as “west.” So in Westminster Abbey, the Poets’ Corner is in the “south transept” – and would be even if the building were not oriented to the east.I have heard this but thinking back to all the Catholic parishes I have belonged to since the 50s, I can’t think of one oriented so that the people face east. No, not all Catholic Churches face east. The shape and size of the location was such that the church building could not be built East-West, so instead of the narthex being at the West end of the church, it is actually at the South-East. to not draw attention to the priest, the attention is to the Eucharist.The alter faces east. [quote=puzzleannie]St Mary’s, priest and people faced west until 1965 when altar turned around . .St. When you go into the church from the narthex, you enter from the right side of the iconostasis (which is towards the East of course The tradition (note the lower case “t”) was to build churches so that the people faced east. So also is the gnostic, Freemason influence in modern Catholic church architecture which seeks to replace Jerusalem with their various replacement theologies of place. Isn’t there a hymn that begins “People, look East” can’t remember if it is for Easter or Christmas. Isn’t there a hymn that begins “People, look East” can’t remember if it is for Easter or Christmas. OUCH!I know the Temple well (for i used to live in the area, and have performed often in the Auditorium across the road). A particular obscenity is the Mormon (Independence, Missouri faction) tenet which states that “Christ” will, on his return, come to Independence, Missouri first, touching his foot down on the pointy tip of their spiral tower (Babel-esque).