Private Chapel*

A building or a room with an altar set apart for public or private worship, but for the use of a community, family or individual and not for the faithful at large.

Private oratory

An oratory is a term in canon law for a distinct class of building divided into public, semi-public and private oratories, set apart for divine worship without an altar, not intended primarily for the general public but for a community, school, family or individual. It may be any size. A private oratory is a room in a private house for the sole use of the individual, his family and their servants.

Semi-public oratory

An oratory erected for the benefit of a community, there being no habitual and indiscriminate right of the general public to make use of it.

*Source: A Guide for Altar and Sanctuary: Directions for the Use of Altar Societies and Architects

First compiled under CARDINAL VAUGHAN