Incorrect Crucifix?

[Duc_In_Altum]

I went to Mass at a Catholic church in Indianapolis a few weeks ago when I was visiting there. The first thing I noticed was that there was a large cross in back of the sanctuary that had no corpus on it. There were four wooden pegs sticking straight out from the intersection of the two beams. During the entrance procession, the crucifer led the way with a crucifix which he carried to the back of the sanctuary and mounted it upon the pegs of the larger cross. I was wondering if this is correct or not. I found it kind of uncomfortable that the corpus was not perpetually visible but I'm not sure about the official church teaching on the issue.

Peace,

Joe

[cappie]

This comes from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal

308. There is also to be a cross, [i][b]with the figure of Christ crucified upon it, [/b][/i]either on the altar or near it, where it is clearly visible to the assembled congregation. It is appropriate that such a cross, which calls to mind for the faithful the saving Passion of the Lord, remain near the altar even outside of liturgical celebrations.