Vatican Nuncio to German Bishops: Pope and Eucharist Prevent a ‘Christian-Flavored NGO’
In his first address to the German bishops’ plenary, Archbishop Hubertus van Megen said that no local Church outranks another.
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Archbishop Hubertus van Megen told Germany’s bishops that the papacy and the Eucharist are the foundations of the Catholic Church’s visible unity, warning that without them the Church could become a loose federation or a “Christian-flavored NGO.” His remarks came as the bishops met in Fulda for their autumn plenary assembly, which also included discussions of life-protection issues and artificial intelligence. 1
Speaking at the assembly’s opening, van Megen described the pope’s role as safeguarding unity of faith and ecclesial communion, while the Eucharist both expresses and nourishes that communion. He said the Eucharist does more than symbolize unity: it creates and strengthens it, while the pope’s ministry serves that communion. 1
Van Megen cautioned that these pillars do not ensure unity mechanically. He described Rome as the visible center and guarantor of the universal Church’s unity, while stressing that no local Church is more or less a Church than another, despite differences between places such as Africa and Europe. 1
He also said synodality should not be driven by individual groups while others are excluded. He urged the bishops to listen to one another and remain in communion with the universal Church and the successor of Peter. 1
The Fulda gathering, scheduled to run through Oct. 1, included debate on life-protection questions and artificial intelligence. At a Sept. 29 press conference, Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen said the Church rejects legalizing surrogacy, arguing it makes a child the object of a contract among adults; Auxiliary Bishop Anton Losinger of Augsburg raised concerns about the implications of gene editing and prenatal genetic testing for the dignity of people with disabilities. 1
In an interview published five days before his address, van Megen said his impression was that Germans often want too much too quickly. He also described the emphasis on “power” in documents associated with the Synodal Way as potentially dangerous. 1
The Vatican has been reviewing the bylaws of a planned permanent Synodal Conference intended to implement the Synodal Way, and the Roman Curia and German bishops have held discussions about its statute since 2025. 1*
Papal primacy, Eucharistic communion, and the unity of the universal Church
Papal primacy, the Eucharist, and the unity of the universal Church are not separate ideas in Catholic teaching. The Eucharist makes the Church’s unity sacramentally visible; communion with the local bishop and with the Bishop of Rome gives that unity its visible, apostolic form. The pope’s primacy is therefore understood as a service to the communion of the bishops and the faithful in Christ—not as a replacement for Christ, the Church’s sole Head.
The Eucharist is celebrated in a particular community, but it is never merely that community’s possession. Because the Eucharistic Body of Christ is one, each celebration manifests—and calls the community into—the unity of Christ’s one Church. A local Church cannot be fully self-sufficient or isolated from the others.
This unity has both a sacramental and a visible structure. The Eucharist and the episcopate belong together: the bishop is the visible principle of unity in his particular Church, while the bishops form one episcopal college with the pope as its head. Catholic teaching consequently sees communion with the Bishop of Rome as an essential element of the Church’s full and visible unity, not merely an external administrative arrangement.
That is why Catholic liturgy expresses the Eucharist as celebrated in union with the local bishop, the pope, the other bishops, the clergy, and the whole people of God. This does not mean that every Christian community outside full communion with Rome lacks every element of ecclesial life: the Church teaches that a valid Eucharistic celebration objectively expresses or calls for universal communion, even where that communion is not complete.
The relationship can be summarized this way: the Eucharist is the sacramental center of ecclesial communion; the episcopate gives that communion apostolic and local form; and the Petrine ministry serves its visible unity throughout the universal Church. Full communion is most fully expressed in the Eucharist, and requires a visible bond in which bishops are united with the Bishop of Rome and the faithful find confirmation in the faith.