Pope St. Clement I

The fourth bishop of Rome, possibly the same Clement whom Paul names as his fellow worker in Philippians 4:3. His Letter to the Corinthians — written about A.D. 96 — is the earliest Christian writing outside the New Testament and the first known intervention of a Roman bishop in the affairs of another Church. Tradition says he was banished to the Crimea and martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea.

Clement's letter addressed a crisis of authority in the Corinthian church, where younger members had deposed their presbyters. Writing with calm authority and pastoral concern, he appealed to apostolic succession and the right ordering of worship — themes that would become central to Catholic ecclesiology for two millennia.

The anchor of his martyrdom became his enduring symbol in Christian art, and churches dedicated to him are found from Rome to the coasts of Scandinavia. The Basilica of San Clemente in Rome, built in layers over a fourth-century church and a first-century house, may stand on the very site of his home — a living archaeological witness to the continuity of the Roman Church from the age of the apostles.