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Clement of Rome
(AD 30 - 100)

We who follow the catholic and orthodox traditions have always believed in the unity in Christ of all the redeemed, those on earth and those who have died. The communion of the saints is professed in the Apostles Creed, where it has also been interpreted to refer to unity in the "holy things", especially the unity of faith and charity achieved through participation in the Eucharist. It is a desire of our Lord that we as a mystical body of Christ would be one. (John 10:16, 17:21-22) It was not too long after St. Paul established the church at Corinth, that the unity of that community was being challenged by schisms and inner quarrels. So St. Clement, fourth Bishop of Rome, wrote his letter to the Corinthians because the leaders of that community had been deposed by some unidentified upstarts. The following is part of that letter emphasizing the importance of having unity in the body of believers, and to avoid fractionalization over issues of little importance to living our lives through Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in God the Father. We do not have to look far into the history of the church to say with confidance that most or all of the disunity in the church has as much to do with authority and power then theology. That is not to minimize the place for theology in the church, for sacred history indeed reveals the importance of good theological understanding of the Apostolic faith. Yet we must never forget that charity, humility, patience and love must be formost in our quest to become the images of Christ on earth.

"Why are there strifes, and tumults, and divisions, and schisms, and wars among you? Have we not all one God and one Christ? Is there not one Spirit of grace poured out upon us? And have we not one calling in Christ? Why do we divide and tear to pieces the members of Christ, and raise up strife against our own body, and have reached such a height of madness as to forget that "we are members one of another? Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, how He said, "Woe to that man by whom offences come! It were better for him that he had never been born, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my elect. Yea, it were better for him that a millstone should be hung about [his neck], and he should be sunk in the depths of the sea, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my little ones. Your schism has subverted the faith of many, has discouraged many, has given rise to doubt in many, and has caused grief to us all. And still your sedition persists...

Take up the epistle of the blessed Apostle Paul. What did he write to you at the time when the Gospel first began to be preached? Truly, under the inspiration of the Spirit, he wrote to you concerning himself, and Cephas, and Apollos, because even then parties had been formed among you. But that inclination for one above another entailed less guilt upon you, inasmuch as your partialities were then shown towards apostles, already of high reputation, and towards a man whom they had approved...

Let us therefore, with all haste, put an end to this state of things; and let us fall down before the Lord, and beseech Him with tears, that He would mercifully be reconciled to us, and restore us to our former seemly and holy practice of brotherly love. For such conduct is the gate of righteousness, which is set open for the attainment of life, as it is written, "Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go in by them, and will praise the Lord: this is the gate of the Lord: the righteous shall enter in by it." Although, therefore, many gates have been set open, yet this gate of righteousness is that gate in Christ by which blessed are all they that have entered in and have directed their way in holiness and righteousness, doing all things without disorder. Let a man be faithful: let him be powerful in the utterance of knowledge; let him be wise in judging of words; let him be pure in all his deeds; yet the more he seems to be superior to others [in these respects], the more humble-minded ought he to be, and to seek the common good of all, and not merely his own advantage." (Clement letter to the Corinthians 46:5-47:4; 48:1-6)

Let us pray that the church will heed these timeless words of wisdom and heal the divisions among us so that the message of God's love can be proclaimed to the world for the salvation of us all!

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