|
Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On St. Clement of Rome
"The Church Has a Sacramental, Not Political Structure"
H.H. Benedict XVI
March 7, 2007
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
During the past few months we have meditated upon the figures of each
individual apostle and the first witnesses of the Christian faith, those
mentioned in the New Testament writings. Now, we will turn our attention
to the Apostolic Fathers, that is, to the first and second generation of
the Church after the apostles. This way we can see how the Church's path
started in history.
St. Clement, Bishop of Rome during the last years of the first century,
is the third successor of Peter, after Linus and Anacletus. The most
important testimonial of his life is that written by St. Irenaeus,
bishop of Lyon until 202. He asserts that Clement "had seen the apostles
… had met with them," and "still had their preaching in his ears, and
their tradition before his eyes" (Adv. Haer. 3,3,3). Later testimonials,
between the fourth and sixth centuries, give Clement the title of
martyr.
This Bishop of Rome's authority and prestige were such that various
writings were attributed to him, but the only certain one is the Letter
to the Corinthians.
Eusebius of Caesarea, the great "archivist" of Christian origins,
presents it with these words: "One letter by Clement has been sent down
to us recognized as authentic, great and admirable. It was written by
him on behalf of the Church of Rome to the Church of Corinth. … We know
that for a long time, and still today, this letter is read publicly
during the reunions of the faithful" (Hist. Eccl. 3,16).
An almost canonical characteristic was attributed to this letter. At the
beginning of the text, written in Greek, Clement is sorry if "the
multiple and calamitous events" (1,1), made for a tardy intervention.
These "events" can be identified with the persecution of Domitian;
therefore, the date this letter was written goes back to a time directly
after the death of the emperor and toward the end of the persecution,
that is to say just after 96.
Clement's intervention -- we are still in the first century -- was
called upon because of the serious problems the Church of Corinth was
undergoing; the priests of the community, in fact, had been deposed by
some young upstarts. The painful event is remembered, once again by St.
Irenaeus who writes, "Under Clement, having given rise to a rather
serious contrast between the Corinthian brothers, the Church of Rome
sent the Corinthians a very important letter to reconcile them in peace
to renew their faith and to announce the tradition, a tradition they had
so newly received from the apostles" (Adv. Haer. 3,3,3).
Therefore, we could say that this letter is a first exercise of a
Primate of Rome after the death of St. Peter. Clement's letter touches
upon topics dear to St. Paul who had written two great letters to the
Corinthians, in particular the theological dialectic, always pertinent,
between the indicative of salvation and the imperative of moral
commitment.
First, there is the proclamation of saving grace. The Lord foresees us
and gives us forgiveness, gives us his love, the grace of being
Christians, his brothers and sisters. This is an announcement that fills
our life with joy and gives certitude to our actions. The Lord always
foresees our acts with his goodness and the goodness of the Lord is
always greater than all of our sins.
We must, however, commit ourselves in a coherent way to this gift that
we have received and answer the proclamation of salvation with a
generous and courageous path toward conversion. Looking at the Pauline
model, the novelty is that Clement follows the doctrinal part and the
practical part with a "great prayer," which practically concludes the
letter.
The immediate occasion of the letter opened to the Bishop of Rome the
possibility for vast intervention on the identity of the Church and its
mission. If there were abuses in Corinth, Clement notes, the reason
should be looked for in the weakening of charity and the necessary
Christian virtues. This is why he calls all the faithful to humility and
brotherly love, two virtues, truly the basis for being part of the
Church. "We are the portion of the Holy One," he says, "let us do all
those things which pertain to holiness" (30,1).
In particular, the Bishop of Rome recalls that the Lord himself, "where
and by whom he desires these things to be done, he himself has fixed by
his own supreme will, in order that all things, being piously done
according to his good pleasure, may be acceptable unto him. … For his
own peculiar services are assigned to the high priest, and their own
proper place is prescribed to the priests and their own special
ministrations devolve on the Levites. The layman is bound by the laws
that pertain to the laymen" (40,1-5: note that here, in this letter from
the end of the first century, for the first time in Christian literature
the Greek term "laikós" appears which means "member of the laos," that
is "the people of God").
This way, referring to the liturgy of ancient Israel, Clement reveals
his ideal of the Church. This is gathered by his "one spirit of grace
poured down upon us," which shows through the different members of the
Body of Christ, in which all, joined without division are "members one
of the other" (46,6-7).
The clear distinction between the "laymen" and the hierarchy does not
mean, in any way, a contraposition but only the organic connection of a
body, of an organism with different functions. In fact, the Church is
not a place for confusion and anarchy, where someone can do whatever he
wants at any time; each one in this organism with an articulated
structure practices his ministry according to the vocation received.
As pertains to the heads of the communities, Clement specifies clearly
the doctrine of apostolic succession. The laws that regulate this derive
from God himself in an ultimate analysis. The Father sent Jesus Christ,
who in turn sent the apostles. These then sent out the first heads of
the communities, and established that they would be followed by worthy
men. Therefore, all proceeds in "an orderly way, according to the will
of the word of God" (42).
With these words, with these phrases, St. Clement underlines that the
Church has a sacramental structure, not a political structure. God's
actions that come to us in the liturgy precede our decisions and our
ideas. The Church is above all a gift of God and not a creature of ours
and therefore this sacramental structure not only guarantees the common
order but also the precedence of the gift of God that we all need.
Finally, the "great prayer" confers a cosmic breath to the preceding
discussion. Clement praises and thanks God for his great providence of
love, who created the world and continued to save it and bless it.
Particular relevance is given to the invocation for the governing body.
After the New Testament texts, this represents the oldest prayer for
political institutions. Thus, on the morrow of the persecution,
Christians, well aware that the persecutions would continue, did not
cease to pray for those very authorities that had condemned them
unjustly.
The motive is above all Christological: One must pray for persecutors,
as Jesus did on the cross. But this prayer also contains a teaching that
guides, in the course of the centuries, the attitude of Christians in
the face of politics and the state.
In praying for the authorities, Clement recognizes the legitimacy of the
political institutions in the order established by God. At the same
time, he manifests his concern that the authorities be docile to God and
"exercise the power that God has given them in peace and gentleness with
compassion" (61,2).
Caesar is not all. Another sovereignty emerges, whose origin and essence
are not of this world, but "from above": It is that of Truth, which
merits the right to be heard also in confrontations with the state."
Thus Clement's letter faces numerous themes of continuous actuality.
This is more significant inasmuch as it represents, since the first
century, solicitude of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity
over all other churches.
With the same spirit we make our invocations as the "great prayer,"
where the Bishop of Rome becomes the voice for the entire world, "Yea,
Lord, make your face to shine upon us for good in peace, that we may be
shielded by your mighty hand ... we praise you through the high priest
and guardian of our souls, Jesus Christ, through whom be glory and
majesty to you both now and from generation to generation and for
evermore. Amen" (60-61).
[Translation by ZENIT]
[At the end of the audience, the Pope greeted pilgrims in several
languages. In English, he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis on the early Church, we now turn to the Apostolic
Fathers. Saint Clement, Bishop of Rome and third successor of Peter,
lived in the last years of the first century. He had met the apostles
personally. Clement wrote an important letter to the Church in Corinth
at a time when the Christian community was deeply divided. He encourages
them to renew their faith in the message received from the apostles and
to be reconciled with one another. In this way, he shows the essential
connection between the content of the Gospel and the way we live. This
connection is essential to Clement's ideal for the Church, in which the
hierarchical structure is intrinsically ordered to the service of
charity. Laity and hierarchy are not opposed, but organically connected
in the mystery of the one body. According to Clement, not only the
Church, but also the entire cosmos reflects God's providential love and
mercy. Clement concludes his letter by praising God for this marvelous
order. Let us join him as we beg the Lord to "make his face shine upon
us in goodness and peace. Amen."
I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims
present at today's audience, especially the groups from Scotland,
Denmark, Japan, Canada and the United States of America. May your
pilgrimage renew your love for the Lord and his Church, and may God
bless you all!
© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Look at the One they Pierced!
This page is the work of
the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary
