Pope Clement I is also known as Saint Clement of Rome, is listed as Bishop of Rome, holding office from 88 to his death in 99. He is considered to be the first Apostolic Father of the Church.

This letter (The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians) is Clement's only genuine extant writing. He wrote it in response to a dispute in which certain presbyters of the Corinthian church had been deposed. He asserted the authority of the presbyters as rulers of the church on the ground that the Apostles had appointed such. This letter, which is one of the oldest extant Christian documents outside the New Testament, was one of the epistles read in church, the first works to affirm the apostolic authority of the clergy.

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