St. Clement of Rome

Biography

Clement was the fourth Bishop of Rome, traditionally said to have been ordained by St. Peter himself and mentioned by St. Paul in Philippians 4:3. He governed the Roman church near the end of the apostolic age, when some apostles or their direct disciples were still living. His one certainly authentic writing, a letter to the church at Corinth, shows a bishop of Rome intervening authoritatively in the affairs of another local church. Tradition holds he died in exile, martyred under Trajan.

Historical background

Around AD 96, the Corinthian church had deposed its lawfully appointed presbyters in a factional dispute. Clement wrote from Rome, not because Corinth had asked Rome to intervene, but on his own initiative, urging repentance and reinstatement of the elders and warning of the sin of schism.

Major writings

• 1 Clement (Letter to the Corinthians)

  The earliest extant Christian document outside the New Testament, evidencing Roman primacy and apostolic succession.

Important teachings

Clement teaches apostolic succession — bishops and deacons succeed the apostles by orderly appointment — and asserts Rome's right to correct another church, an early witness to the Roman see's authority. He also insists on due order in worship and ministry, rejecting self-appointed leadership.

Quotations