Trier Cathedral as Bishop's Church

	View from northwest toward Trier Cathedral

Bishops lived and worked in Trier even before the construction of the Cathedral: Eucharius, Valerius, Maternus. Only the fourth bishop, Agritius, was granted the privilege of commissioning that mighty structure which astonishes us still today, although the original complex was larger many times over than the present church.

What then are the specifics of a bishop’s church that differentiate it from other churches, and what does it have in common with them?

	Eucharist celebration

Let us begin our tour with the altar. It is the center of every church. Here the assembled congregation celebrates the Eucharist (Holy Communion; Greek “thanksgiving”), the bishop or priest represents Christ, the Lord of the Church, He who gave Himself on the cross at Golgotha for the salvation of humankind. This unique sacrifice becomes present in every Divine Mass, so that humankind from all ages can share equally in Him. At the same time, the Eucharist celebration is the “source and summit of the entire Christian life,” indeed, the source from which the Church herself emanates and receives life from the resurrected Lord again and again anew (Vatican II, Church Constitution 11; 26).

When the bishop together with his priests and the faithful celebrates the Eucharist in the Cathedral, Christ is present in the “Church” in an eminent way in the Eucharist as the living body of the Lord in the here and now.

Therefore, every other Eucharist celebration conducted in the diocese makes reference to this central celebration, as the bishop is the very leader and since the priests perform the celebration at his behest (Vatican II: Church Constitution 26).

The next element that a bishop’s church has in common with all other churches, but which has a special significance in the bishop’s church, is the pulpit, the place of proclaiming the Word. “Conspicuous among the principal duties of bishops [is that] they should announce the Gospel of Christ.” (Vatican II: Decree Concerning The Pastoral Office Of Bishops). As successors of the Apostles, the bishops are the first proclaimers of the Gospel to their congregations. Thus the bishop proclaims and interprets the Word of God to the faithful in every Divine Mass which he celebrates in the Cathedral. The bishop or one of the auxiliary bishops is present in the Cathedral on all high holy days.

	Baptistery

A further significant place expressing the importance of the Cathedral as the church of the bishop: the ancient baptistery that is conspicuously marked in the paving between the Cathedral and the Church of Our Lady (originally a part of the Cathedral complex). In the first centuries of Church history, it was reserved for the bishop to administer the sacrament of baptism. He performed this sacrament at a centrally located place – his church – and at a specifically significant time: the Easter vigil. Thus we can imagine that, in the first years of the Trier Church, hundreds of baptism candidates, year after year, stepped into the baptistery pool, were submerged three times by the bishop, and afterwards, as a symbol of their new life, donned a white baptismal robe. Thus, in a spiritual sense, the bishop was the father of the entire diocese, as, with his hands, all became children of God and the Church in the waters of baptism. Still today, the bishop performs the sacrament of baptism in the Cathedral in the Easter vigil service. He no longer, however, does this exclusively: the diocese and the number of baptism candidates have grown too large over the many centuries. Thus the baptism in the Cathedral today hardly differs from all the many baptisms in the parish churches of our diocese. But we must remember the bishop is not only theoretically the spiritual father of his diocese. Confirmation, closely related to baptism, is still reserved for the bishop or for one of his auxiliary bishops. However, the candidates for confirmation normally no longer come to Trier, but the bishop travels to them in the parishes of the diocese.

Another indication of the central role the bishop plays in the church life of his diocese is the two special worship services celebrated annually in the Cathedral.

	Oil vessels in the crypt

The first is the so-called Chrism (Holy Oil) Mass during Easter week. In this service, the bishop blesses or consecrates the oils which will be used in his diocese for various worship services throughout the year: the chrism oil for the celebration of baptism, confirmation, consecration of priests and bishops, oil for anointing the sick, catechumen oil which is used to anoint candidates for baptism. At the close of this solemn mass, in which representatives of the diocese clergy co-celebrate with the bishop, these oils are taken by the representatives of the diaconate and then distributed throughout the diocese. This solemn act illustrates symbolically the solidarity of all the congregations of the diocese, indeed, all the faithful with their bishop.

	Laying on of hands

Another significant event in the life of a diocese is the consecration of priests. In this rite following the Apostolic model of prayer and the laying on of hands, the bishop empowers helpmates whom he then sends out – now authorized with sacramental authority – to perform the various functions in the diocese parishes: to proclaim the Gospel, to celebrate the Eucharist, to administer the sacraments, and to lead the congregation. Priestly service is the essence of a Christian congregation, because this service reminds the congregation that it does not empower itself as in the case of a club or political party, but that it is empowered by Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, renewed again and again through the sacraments, born again especially in the Eucharist celebration. The priest in his ties to the bishop and the other priests of the diocese are also, so to speak, the link between the individual local parish congregation and the entire Trier Church and the World Church. In a manner of speaking, the priest brings the presence of the bishop into the congregation (Vatican II: Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office 5).

The Cathedral chapter illustrates in a special manner the unity of the bishop with his priests in the Cathedral. As far back as Antiquity, it was customary that the bishop did not perform his official duties alone but was surrounded by the so-called presbytery, the priests who were his assistants. This circumstance was to be taken quite literally: the priests lived together with the bishop in the bishop’s city, often even in the same house, in a so-called vita communis, a communal life. Naturally this form of existence changed over the centuries. For example, not all the priests would be able to live in Trier today and still carry out their priestly duties. The diocese and the number of priests are simply too large. But the idea of the bishop surrounded by his priests survives in the Cathedral chapter, whose primary task in the present diocese is to elect a new bishop, to care for matters involving the Cathedral itself, but also to function as an advisory panel for the bishop. Being in charge of the liturgy in the Cathedral represents the Cathedral chapter’s most important service. The entire chapter meets regularly to celebrate worship service, especially to pray the canonical hours. For example, the visitor can experience this service every Sunday at 6:00 p.m. vespers.

The cathedra illustrates the role of the Cathedral as bishop’s church is a very special way; this chair, the seat of the bishop, gives this church even its name: Cathedral. The cathedra, which is to be found only in a bishop’s church and is decorated with the bishop’s coat of arms, symbolizes the teaching and leadership tasks of the bishop. As successor to the Apostles, he is responsible for teaching and shepherding his diocese. He represents his diocese to Christ as the Head of the Church (see Vatican II: Church Constitution 27).

In his duties as teacher and shepherd, he is the guarantor that the diocese entrusted to him remains true to the Catholic faith, that it remains in communion with the whole World Church represented by the Bishop of Rome, the successor of the Apostle Peter and the Council of Bishops in the whole world. Thus the Bishop of Trier represents the World Church  to his diocese, but, at the same time, he is also the representative of his diocese in this World Church. The bishop is the tie that binds the local Church with the Whole Church (see H. de Lubac: “Christian Sources”, 53).

	Bronze burial plate of a bishop

Finally, the solidarity of the Trier bishops with the Cathedral can be illustrated by their burial places over the centuries. In their form and decoration, the bishops’ graves in the Cathedral represent the respective spirit of the times. The history of our diocese passes before the inner eye, so to speak, a history that is so closely bound together with its bishops. Glorious and human, lordly and humble, success and failure – all can be found here.

When we celebrate Divine Mass in the Cathedral, then we know that we are bound in a very special way to those who have gone before, to those who carried the bishop’s crosier of St. Eucharius in their own time, and to those who have made sure that the Cathedral still stands, that the true faith has been transmitted to us, and that we today can lift our voices in this magnificent room in praise of God!

Text: Cathedral Vicar Markus Nicolay