Editing Clement of Rome (section)

==Life==
[[File:San clemente fresco.jpg|thumb|11th-century fresco in the Basilica of San Clemente, Rome: Saints Cyril and Methodius bring Saint Clement's relics to Rome]]
The ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]''<ref name="Loomis19166">{{cite book|last=Loomis|first=Louise Ropes |title=The Book of the Popes (Liber Pontificalis)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N1KMTRsvPGUC&pg=PA7|year=1916|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York |isbn=978-1-889758-86-2|page=7}}</ref> presents a list that makes [[Pope Linus|Linus]] the second in the line of bishops of Rome, with Peter as first; but at the same time it states that Peter ordained two bishops, Linus and [[Anacletus]], for the priestly service of the community, devoting himself instead to prayer and preaching, and that it was to Clement that he entrusted the Church as a whole, appointing him as his successor. Tertullian considered Clement to be the immediate successor of Peter.<ref name="Tertullian1903p258">{{cite book|author=Tertullian |editor1=Alexander Roberts|editor2=James Donaldson|title=The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325.|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/antenicenefathe03menzgoog/page/n272/mode/2up|volume=III, Part II, Section I, Ch XXXII|year=1903|publisher=C. Scribner's Sons|page=258|chapter=Prescription against Heretics}}</ref> In one of his works, [[Jerome]] listed Clement as "the fourth bishop of Rome after Peter, if indeed the second was Linus and the third Anacletus, although most of the Latins think that Clement was second after the apostle."<ref name=Jerome>{{cite wikisource|wslink=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume III/Lives of Illustrious Men/Jerome/Clemens the bishop|author=Jerome|author-link=Jerome|date=1885|work=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II|volume= III|title=Lives of Illustrious Men, Ch XV Clemens the bishop|chapter=|editor1=Alexander Roberts|editor2=James Donaldson}}</ref> Clement is put after Linus and Cletus/Anacletus in the earliest (c.&nbsp;180) account, that of [[Irenaeus]],<ref name=Irenaeus>{{cite wikisource|wslink=Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume I/IRENAEUS/Against Heresies: Book III/Chapter III.|author=Irenaeus|author-link=Irenaeus|work=Ante-Nicene Fathers|date=1885|volume= I|title=Against Heresies, Book III, Ch. III|editor1=Alexander Roberts|editor2=James Donaldson}}</ref> who is followed by [[Eusebius of Caesarea]].<ref name=Eusebius>{{cite wikisource|wslink=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Church History of Eusebius/Book III/Chapter 4|author=Eusebius of Caesarea|author-link=Eusebius of Caesarea|work=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II|volume= I|title=Church History of Eusebius, Book III, Chapter 4, paragraph 10|editor1=Alexander Roberts|editor2=James Donaldson|date=1885}}</ref>

Early succession lists name Clement as the first,<ref name=Schaff>{{cite book|first=Philip|last=Schaff|author-link=Philip Schaff|date=1883|chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/historyofchristi02scha/page/634/mode/2up|title=History of the Christian Church|volume= II: Ante-Nicene Christianity. A.D. 100-325.|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|location=New York|chapter=Ch XIII, §162 Clement of Rome.}}</ref>{{rp|636}}{{efn|Like Schaff, the [[Holy See]]'s ''[[Annuario Pontificio]]'', gives Clement as "supreme pontiff of Rome" in either 92–99 or 68–76, making him either the first or the third successor of Saint Peter, but not the second.{{harv|Libreria Editrice Vaticana|2008|p=7}}}} second, or third<ref name="ODCC self" />{{efn|The ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article says that only on the false assumption that "Cletus" and "Anacletus" were two distinct persons, instead of variations of the name of single individual, did some think that Clement was the fourth successor of Saint Peter.}} successor of [[Saint Peter|Peter]]. However, the meaning of his inclusion in these lists has been very controversial.<ref name="Bishop">{{cite CE1913|last=Van Hove|first= Alphonse|wstitle=Bishop|volume=2}}</ref> Some believe there were presbyter-bishops as early as the 1st century,<ref name="Bishop" /> but that there is no evidence for a monarchical episcopacy in Rome at such an early date.<ref name="ODCC self" /> There is also, however, no evidence of a change occurring in ecclesiastical organization in the latter half of the 2nd century, which would indicate that a new or newly-monarchical episcopacy was establishing itself.<ref name="Bishop" />

A tradition that began in the 3rd and 4th century,<ref name="ODCC self" /> has identified him as the Clement that Paul mentioned in [[Philippians]] {{Bibleverse-nb||Philippians|4:3|KJV}}, a fellow laborer in Christ.{{efn|{{harvnb|Kelly|Walsh|2005|p=7}} note that "Writers of the 3rd and 4th centuries, like [[Origen]], [[Eusebius]], and [[Jerome]], equate him (St. Clement I), perhaps, correctly, with the Clement whom St. Paul mentions ({{bibleverse|Phil|4:3}}) as a fellow worker."}}  While in the mid-19th century it was customary to identify him as a freedman of [[Titus Flavius Clemens (consul)|Titus Flavius Clemens]], who was [[consul]] with his cousin, the Emperor [[Domitian]], this identification, which no ancient sources suggest, afterwards lost support.<ref name=CE1913/> The 2nd-century ''[[Shepherd of Hermas]]'' mentions a Clement whose office it was to communicate with other churches; most likely, this is a reference to Clement I.<ref>"Vision II", 4. 3</ref>

A large congregation existed in Rome c.&nbsp;58, when Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans.<ref name="ODCC self"/> Paul arrived in Rome c.&nbsp;60 (Acts).<ref name="ODCC self"/> Paul and Peter were said to have been martyred there. [[Nero]] persecuted Roman Christians after Rome burned in 64, and the congregation may have suffered further persecution under Domitian (81–96). Clement was the first of early Rome's most notable bishops.<ref name="CrossLivingstone2005p1422">{{cite book|last1=Cross|first1=Frank Leslie |author-link1=Frank Leslie Cross|last2=Livingstone|first2=Elizabeth A. |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUqcAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1422|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-280290-3|page=1422|chapter=Rome (early Christian)}}</ref> The ''Liber Pontificalis'', which documents the reigns of popes, states that Clement had known Peter.

Clement is known for his epistle to the church in Corinth (c.&nbsp;96), in which he asserts the apostolic authority of the bishops/presbyters as rulers of the church.<ref name="ODCC self"/> The epistle mentions ''episkopoi'' (overseers, bishops) or ''presbyteroi'' (elders, presbyters) as the upper class of minister, served by the deacons, but, since it does not mention himself, it gives no indication of the title or titles used for Clement in Rome.

[[File:Saintclementmartyr.png|left|thumb|upright|Martyrdom of St Clement by [[Fungai]]]]