I dagens audiens, der 45 000 var samlet på Petersplassen, dagen før toårsdagen for pavevalget, forstsatte pave Bendikt å snakke om kirkefedrene, etter å ha tatt for seg alle apostlene og andre av de første kristne i fjor. Nå hadde han kommet til den hellige Klemens av Alexandria (ca 150-217), som man kan lese om på norsk her.
His most important work is a trilogy that has provided «effective accompaniment to the spiritual maturation of Christians,» said the Pope. The first part is «an exhortation addressed to those beginning the journey of faith» in which «the Logos Jesus Christ exhorts mankind to start decisively down the road of Truth.» In the second part of the trilogy «Jesus Christ becomes a pedagogue, in other words educator of those who, by virtue of Baptism, have already become children of God.» In the third part, Christ is «the Master Who presents the most profound teachings.»
In this way «the Clementine catechesis provides a step-by-step accompaniment to the progress of catechumens and of baptized so that, with the two ‘wings’ of faith and reason, they may attain an intimate knowledge of the Truth that is Jesus Christ. … Only this knowledge of the Person Who is truth, is ‘true gnosis.’ »
… … In this way Clement «creates the second great opportunity for dialogue between the Christian message and Greek philosophy. … For him, the Greek philosophical tradition, almost like the Law for the Jews, is an area of ‘revelation’, both being paths leading to the Logos.»
This Father of the Church, the Pope concluded, «can serve as an example to Christians, to catechists and to theologians of our time» whom John Paul II urged in his Encyclical «Fides et Ratio» to » recover and express to the full the metaphysical dimension of truth in order to enter into a demanding critical dialogue with (…) contemporary philosophical thought».