Versus populum (Latin for "towards the people") is the liturgical stance of a priest who, while celebrating Mass, faces the people from the other side of the altar. The opposite stance, that of a priest facing in the same direction as the people, is today called ad orientem (literally, "towards the east" − even if the priest is really facing in some other direction) or ad apsidem ("towards the apse" − even if the altar is unrelated to the apse of the church or even if the church or chapel has no apse).
In the early history of Christianity it was considered the norm to pray facing the geographical east. From the middle of the 17th century, almost all new Roman Rite altars were built against a wall or backed by a reredos, with a tabernacle placed on the main altar or inserted into the reredos. The altars of Evangelical-Lutheran churches were built against the eastern wall of the church, likewise. This meant that the priest turned to the people, putting his back to the altar, for a few short moments at Mass.
The celebration of the Mass versus populum was suggested in 1526 by Martin Luther in the German Mass who stated that "the priest should always turn himself towards the people as, without doubt, Christ did at the Last Supper" though he noted that immediately implementing this liturgical stance was not compulsory, and that versus populum might become the normative practice with time. After the Second Vatican Council, Catholic churches "pulled the altar from the wall and made it appear to be a table" and Evangelical-Lutheran churches constructed after that time generally followed the same practice, which allowed the presider "to face the congregation as a gathered community".
History
Earliest churches in Rome 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."For whatever reason it was done, one can also see this arrangement (whereby the priest faced the people) in a whole series of church buildings within Saint Peter's direct sphere of influence", The Altar and the Direction of Liturgical Prayer Adoremus Bulletin, Vol. VI, No. 3: May 2000 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."When Christians in fourth-century Rome could first freely begin to build churches, they customarily located the sanctuary towards the west end of the building in imitation of the sanctuary of the Jerusalem Temple. Although in the days of the Jerusalem Temple the high priest indeed faced east when sacrificing on Yom Kippur, the sanctuary within which he stood was located at the west end of the Temple. The Christian replication of the layout and the orientation of the Jerusalem Temple helped to dramatize the eschatological meaning attached to the sacrificial death of Jesus the High Priest in the Epistle to the Hebrews", The Eschatological Dimension of Church Architecture: The Biblical Roots of Church Orientation The Institute for Sacred Architecture, volume 10, 2005 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."Msgr. Klaus Gamber has pointed out that although in these early west-facing Roman basilicas the people stood in the side naves and faced the centrally located altar for the first portion of the service, nevertheless at the approach of the consecration they all turned to face east towards the open church doors, the same direction the priest faced throughout the Eucharistic liturgy", The Eschatological Dimension of Church Architecture: The Biblical Roots of Church Orientation The Institute for Sacred Architecture, volume 10, 2005 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.
Later pre-twentieth-century churches in Rome 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,The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ), article "westward position" under the influence of the Frankish Empire,The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005) , article "eastward position" where it had become general. 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" (), 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.
Outside of Rome
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.The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art and Architecture (2013 ), p. 117 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). 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.D. Fairchild Ruggles, On Location: Heritage Cities and Sites (Springer 2011 ), p. 134Lawrence Cunningham, John Reich, Lois Fichner-Rathus, Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities, Volume 1 |(Cengage Learning 2013 ), pp. 208–210
Modernity
Pius Parsch The Augustinian Canon Pius Parsch as a military chaplain in World War I and later as priest at St. Gertrude's in Austria popularized what was called a "liturgical Mass" that was said Versus populum. While the practice was permitted, it was considered liturgically advanced at the time.
Roman Rite
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. 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."Romano Guardini. The Essential Guardini: An Anthology of the Writings of Romano Guardini. LiturgyTrainingPublications; 1997. . p. 7–8.
Roman Missal 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." 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 at least one popular priest, who resists the liturgical reforms of Vatican II ecumenical council, tends to suggest that the text does not oblige the priest to avail of these possibilities.Father John Zuhlsdorf says the official translation is inaccurate and that the Latin original text, Altare exstruatur a pariete seiunctum, ut facile circumiri et in eo celebratio versus populum peragi possit, quod expedit ubicumque possibile sit, should be translated as: "The main altar should be built separated from the wall, which is useful wherever it is possible, so that it can be easily walked around and a celebration toward the people can be carried out". His translation includes the word "main" (in Latin, maius), found in the 1969 edition of the General Instruction but absent from the 2002 edition. He changes the order of the phrases in the Latin sentence, making the relative clause quod expedit ubicumque possibile sit ("which is desirable wherever possible") refer not to the immediately preceding phrase, in eo celebratio versus populum peragi possit ("can celebrate Mass versus populum"), but to the distant phrase Altare exstruatur a pariete seiunctum ("The altar should be built separate from the wall"). In actual practice throughout the Roman Catholic Church, popes, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests, by their constant examples since the current form of the Roman Missal was initially promulgated, have been nearly unanimous in adopting versus populum as the defining orientation for the priest during the Mass.
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 older 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);