ince Vatican Council II (1962-65) the altar faces the people, so that priest and people pray in a mutual dialogue around the table of the Lord.

The altar, the center of worship in the church, incorporates a base of gray marble and a red granite table like the granite of the Baptismal pool. The gray marble was taken from the original high altar, which was removed from the back of the sanctuary in the renovation following Vatican II.

The brass Lamb of God, in Latin Agnus Dei, is a symbol of Jesus, the Paschal sacrifice offered on this altar. The gray marble base of the altar has carved on the right side an open book and several keys, on the left a bishop's mitre (ceremonial hat) and crozier (staff). The book represents God's word found in the Holy Scripture, the foundation of the bishop's teaching. The keys remind us of Christ's words to Peter, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 16:19). The crozier's shape recalls its origin as a shepherd's crook, or staff,suggesting the bishop's pastoral role, "Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep" (John 21:15-17).