In the Church everyone comes from Christ, having been baptised in him and having received the gift of his spirit. Each person carries within – at least when they witness to the foundation they have received – Jesus Christ, and brings Jesus Christ into the church community. Each person is in a way the “starting point” of the Church...
However, this does not in any way render superfluous the repraesentatio Christi capitis (“the presence” of Christ the head) for the unity of the Church...
This is a way of representing the Church, given in order to keep it linked to the origin and to keep it in unity, like a sacrament of this origin.
Klaus Hemmerle
Tra diocesi e Chiesa universale
Internationale Katholische Zeitschrift 1974, n° 1, p. 29