Maybe I can help here, since it was the founder of my order who started this mess in the first place.
The tabernacle was first placed on the main altar by St. Francis of Assisi. Prior to his arrival on the scene, the tabernacle was never in the main church. We have to remember during the 13th century, parishes were really monastery churches or cathedrals. They were not what we know them today, especially in the Americas. Even in Europe, they still are very different from our notion of a parish in the Americas.
Someone mentioned that they attend mass at a monastery and there is no tabernacle. This is correct. Most monastic orders do not keep a tabernacle in the same place where they worship. The tabernacle is in a separate chapel or a side chapel.
Because the Franciscans did not have the large buildings that the monks did, we did not have several spaces available. The mass, the Liturgy of the Hours and private prayer all took place in one space. Francis of Assisi, who was very devoted to the Eucharist, very much wanted the Blessed Sacrament present in the chapel. As was the custom of the time, the tabernacle was very ornate and beautiful, except that it was always in a separate space.
Since the friars did not have the luxury of space, the tabernacle was placed in the front center of the sanctuary. It was usually on a pedestal directly behind the main altar. Franciscan altars were not attached to the back wall. That’s a Roman thing, not a Franciscan custom. In those churches built by the Roman clergy and later handed over to the friars, the altars were built into the wall. That was not the case with our chapels and is still not the case. If you look at the altars at both chapels on EWTN, the friars’ chapel and the nun’s chapel at the shrine, the tabernacle sits on a pedestal behind the main altar.
When the mass was celebrated facing ad orientem, you faced the tabernacle. When the option came to face the people, we did not have to move our tabernacles or our altars. They were never attached. The friar-priest simply slips between the tabernacle and the altar.
Because our order spread so quickly and so far, the custom of the tabernacle at the center of the sanctuary also spread through Europe and later through the Franciscan missions. Other religious communities and diocesan bishops adopted the custom and it eventually became the norm for parishes. That’s how the tabernacle came to be on the main altar. It was never intentional. It was one of those things that happened out of a great devotion to the Eucharist and a lack of space. The tabernacle and the mass had to share the same space. It was never the intention of St. Francis or the friars to make the tabernacle part of the mass. That’s why it was never a problem for the friar-priest to slip between the tabernacle and the altar, turning his back on the tabernacle during the mass. As I said, the tabernacle was not part of the mass nor has it ever been so.
That being said, there is nothing wrong with having it front and center. The norm is that it should be prominent, beautiful and reverently displayed. That was always the case, even in the monasteries where they kept it in a separate space. It is also the rule that the tabernacle not be where there is a lot of traffic. That’s why you do not find it in most cathedrals and basilicas such as St. Peter’s or the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. It’s in a side chapel. You don’t want tours walking past the Most Blessed Sacrament.
The Poor Clares keep it front and center because the shrine is dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. It makes perfect sense and people know that they come there to adore the Sacrament. St. Peter’s has a different purpose and so does the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.
In closing, many theologians believed that since the focus of the mass is the altar of sacrifice and the pulpit, the tabernacle in the front and center of the sanctuary encouraged private Eucharistic devotion during the mass, when the focus should be on the Word, Sacrifice and Communion. The truth is that we can neither substantiate their belief nor disprove it. One would have to be in everyone’s head to know what people are thinking and where they are focusing during the mass. That’s impossible. All that the theologians could offer was an opinion, not a law, because it could not be proven or disproven. I hope this helps.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
