I remember the day when they replaced the altar with a 'Protestant Table'
at a parish church I attended in Venice, Ca. The old Altar was carried to
the front of the church below the stairs. The altar was still there Sunday
Morning. The message was to the people coming to church that the old
ways are now over with and please do not ask any questions.
One of my saddest memories.
For a long time after the changes were made, the Mass at St. James
Catholic Church in Redondo Beach was said facing the altar. That
changed in the late 1970's.