So are all Roman Catholic churches physically oriented towards he east? Another freeper said it was facing the crucifix. But “Orientem” does sound like maybe it means east. But could mean Oriented.
Most older churches actually are geographically facing East, newer are a mixed bag. Regardless, the liturgical symbolism of facing the Altar, the Crucifix, and most importantly the Tabernacle remains regardless of geography.
Yes, orientem=east.
Liturgical east is the broader term, used by necessity if the physical church is constructed such that the parishioners in the pews in the “nave” or central part of the church end up facing north, south or west, as obviously happens (but is not preferred).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nave
It does mean East in this case.
Hmm....the Great Circle Route for much of the USA would be quite a bit north of east.
I passed by a mosque in Washington DC many years ago and they were facing Mecca — very much to the north of east.