History of Pews in Catholic Churches
In the United States we see pews as a necessary and basic part of every Catholic church, even though they are a recent invention and didn’t even originate in Catholicism. For most of Church history, worshipers stood during the celebration of the Mass. During the early 13th century sporadic churches started carving a few benches into the stone walls for limited perimeter seating, called sedilia.
Later, seating in the form of a few scattered benches were added for the elderly to sit on, but in general the nave of the church was entirely void of places to sit. This practice made practical sense, especially when kneeling became a common posture of the laity. Additionally, in medieval churches the pulpit was typically placed in the middle of the church, apart from the sanctuary. This meant the laity had to physically walk over to the pulpit to listen to the priest's very brief homily. There was so much movement during Mass that no one, including the priest, ever had a chance to sit down.
The Protestant Reformation issued in the common use of pews. In most Protestant churches the emphasis during worship services was the sermon given by a preacher. The interpretation of the Bible by the local pastor was a chief focus of Protestant liturgies and led to long discourses at the pulpit.
As Homilies became longer in Catholic churches and sitting was more common during various parts of the Mass, pews were gradually introduced. Later when churches could afford the installation of pews, they relied on parishioners for additional income and began to "rent" pews. This practice was common during colonial times and was phased out during the later part of the 20th century.
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