Have You Ever Seen a Catholic Church without Kneelers?

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GwenL said:
The church is beautiful.

But the eye is drawn to the man in the pink shirt and shorts. Why would a man wear shorts to Divine Liturgy?
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Thats funny, I didn’t notice him at all. I did notice all of the beautiful icons though!! and the wonderful contrast of the wood to the carpets and icons. 🤷
 
The rule of thumb around here (and I am side stepping the entire ‘must have kneelers vs whatever’ discussion) is that if the Church (Chapel, etc) has kneelers and if one is able to kneel, then they do, and if the place is without kneelers, one stands, if able.

On a side note, if you really want glares and looks – receive standing at the communion rail in the EF. I get judged on my age and not on my badly deteriorated hips and knees that people can not see. I only mention this to remind people to cut people some slack at times. Sometimes we do not know the whole story.
 
GwenL said:
Well, perhaps they are there in anticipation of Divine Liturgy?
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Again, the Deacon won’t be among the congregation. He would be behind the Iconostasis.
GwenL said:
Why else would people be standing around, facing the iconostasis? If they were tourists, they would be wandering about, taking pictures. Anyways, the shorts are a discordant note in such a place.
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It could be anything. It is probably not any ongoing prayer service as the deacon is not vested or doing anything Liturgical. They could be practicing for something, or just a simple prayer for something.
 
anp1215 said:
:confused:Not supposed to kneel? Kneeling is required in the Roman Catholic Church. Who is saying that your parish is not supposed to kneel? Do you not have room to kneel or a lot of infirm parishioners?
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The priest says we are to stand during the consecration. Even if he isn’t there we stand although some people will still kneel. I assume he knows what he is doing since he is very knowledgeable. Yes, lot of people in the parish do have trouble kneeling. I have been to other parishes where people kneel during the consecration but they had kneelers!
 
MSSheBear said:
The priest says we are to stand during the consecration. Even if he isn’t there we stand although some people will still kneel. I assume he knows what he is doing since he is very knowledgeable. Yes, lot of people in the parish do have trouble kneeling. I have been to other parishes where people kneel during the consecration but they had kneelers!
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I think the tendency of some people is to sit instead of stand if there are no kneelers. So perhaps the priest is doing the right thing here, to ask people to stand instead making what to do vague and some people might ought to sit. The problem I find in RC parishes is if particular people can’t kneel and everyone is kneeling, they opt to sit. I think that if they can stand, they should stand if they can’t kneel, and if both is not possible, only then they should sit.
 
ConstantineTG said:
I think the tendency of some people is to sit instead of stand if there are no kneelers. So perhaps the priest is doing the right thing here, to ask people to stand instead making what to do vague and some people might ought to sit. The problem I find in RC parishes is if particular people can’t kneel and everyone is kneeling, they opt to sit. I think that if they can stand, they should stand if they can’t kneel, and if both is not possible, only then they should sit.
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I hadn’t thought of people just sitting through the consecration. During Lent when he did ask us to kneel on the floor a lot of people did just sit. So maybe that is why we stand.
 
MSSheBear said:
I hadn’t thought of people just sitting through the consecration. During Lent when he did ask us to kneel on the floor a lot of people did just sit. So maybe that is why we stand.
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I will admit I did this in the past but never thought of it as I said in my last post. I went hiking with friends and my knees were sore. I couldn’t even walk right, going up and down the stairs was a pain. So I couldn’t kneel. So during consecration I sat. I could stand, but I couldn’t kneel. But I sat because that’s what people normally do if they cannot kneel, by my observation.
 
No kneelers? Then kneel on the floor. I’ve done that on a concrete floor during a TLM low Mass, so I was kneeling for quite awhile. It hurt. Literally! 😃
 
YoungTradCath said:
Kneelers are required. I have never seen a parish without them, thank God!
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Actually, kneelers are NOT required. We are, however required to kneel at the appropriate times (specified in the GIRM). People kneel, even in St. Peter’s Square - on the cobble stones! None of our churches have cobble stones as flooring!
 
GwenL said:
Well, I was at St Peter’s this past summer and there are kneelers. We attended Mass at the altar in the left transept and the altar under St Peter’s chair. Both had seats and kneelers. The adoration chapel also had kneelers.

We weren’t there for any large Masses celebrated from the main altar, so perhaps that is what you meant?
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St. Patrick’s in NYC has pews and kneelers throughout the whole church. St. Peter’s has some in the chapel areas. There are none around the main altar.

We attended Mass the Sunday after Easter at the altar with the Holy Spirit (Dove) window
directly behind the main altar. Stackable chairs had been put out but, again, no where near enough to accommodate all. Oddly enough stacks ( at least seven feet high) of the stackable chairs were stored just to the right of the area.
 
Here in Detroit, the bishop we had in the 70’s ( Cardinal Dearden) allowed parishes to be built without kneelers. So there were several built that way.

The bishop that followed him ( Cardinal Szoka) and all the subsequent bishops have mandated that kneelers be installed in any new parishes, or whenever a parish is doing any major renovations. The first parish my wife and I belonged to after we were married was like that. I had no kneelers and people stood, but they did a parish expansion and installed kneelers. I remember that several in the parish objected, but the pastor stated that it was a mandate from the bishop.

Our current parish has them, and uses them. When our parish was being renovated, and Mass was being conducted in the parish hall, people knelt on the floor (carpet over concrete)
 
Joan_M said:
Actually, kneelers are NOT required. We are, however required to kneel at the appropriate times (specified in the GIRM). People kneel, even in St. Peter’s Square - on the cobble stones! None of our churches have cobble stones as flooring!
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Many are seniors like me. Getting up is difficult. That little difference from being on a kneeler or on the floor makes a world of difference.

Here’s my take: If the GRIM says one is to kneel but the local church authority decides to forgo the kneelers, it is like saying , “Okay, but I’m not going to make it easy on you.”
You end up with most standing or sitting.

I did notice while in Rome that some stood while most knelt so it was confusing. I thought I was missing something. This was at a daily Mass where pews and kneelers were available.
 
We don’t have kneelers.

I have knee replacements = NO kneeling
This is due to the posibility of poping the titanium out of the bone.

So I never thought about it.
Visiting other churches, I have never had anyone bat an eye at me not kneeling.
I look Normal and don’t use a cane, though often wear athletic shoes.
 
My parents’ parish has never had kneelers and pews. I like their church but I prefer going to a parish that has both kneelers and pews as kneeling on the floor alone would not be good for my bad knees & back.
 
I am in Europe. Our church was built in 1986 without kneelers (and without confessionals). The floor is rock and the chairs are pushed close to the row in front. If you are actually able to cram yourself in and kneel, you are likely to stand up with bruised and bloody knees (from experience, not assumption).

Kneeling is, for the vast majority of people, simply is not possible. 😦
 
The chapel at my church where daily mass is held has no kneelers. Most people stand and only a very few kneel during kneeling parts. Being new, I never know what to do so I do what the majority of people do. It obviously is not required since the priest never says anything about it. Granted, most people at daily mass are elderly. The sisters who are there kneel on the floor. The church was built in the late 60s but the chapel may have been added later, I don’t know.
 
PennyinCanada said:
In our city, the RC kneelers were removed. Gone. I was actually at a Mass where there was a special speaker that came in and lots of visitors were there to hear him. They actually stopped the Mass, right before the consecration, to insist that all stand. Stand, or *they would not continue. * "We do NOT kneel here! I saw many people standing and wiping away tears that day.

When attending, I have personally knelt on the hard floor but found that the pews were strategically positioned closer together so that you had to be somewhat skinny or you could not manage it, the pew was too tight to the pew in front.
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I’ve known of parishes like that and have met the Pastor of one of these.

Have to admit that two women in my own parish, the catechetical coordinator and the administrator, started promoting ‘standing throughout’ and finally bullied the Pastor into issuing such an order which the bishops have chosen not to rescind. Then they started working toward removal of the kneelers. I suggested that the only way we could fairly do that was to do a survey of parishioners to see what they had to say. Of course the survey showed that nobody wanted the kneelers removed except the two of them and the kneelers remained.

But I have been in parishes without them. One parish down the road from us has no pews, just chairs. Nobody kneels there – and they are 5 minutes away from what had been the Cathedral until 5 years ago and shared a priest with the Cathedral parish. The bishop never said anything about them not kneeling and when someone in our parish complained about no kneeling the question the Bishop asked was “Who said you weren’t to kneel?” When the answer was “The Pastor,” the Bishop’s reply was, “Well, then…”
 
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