This little cartoon illustrates something important about Mass “facing the people:” If the furnishings are maintained so that the priest still is able to be oriented “toward God,” the altar actually becomes a barrier, making it more difficult for the people to see. I don’t think there were ever many free standing altars with tabernacles upon them (which I think is forbidden), but, if fitting candles and crucifix stand on the altar, as was traditionally done at St. Peter’s (including most of Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate), the “goings on” at the altar are less visible than if the priest and people are on the same side of the altar. What happened in the ‘60s was, quite obviously, a radical reorientation of the liturgy, putting man at the center of everything.