On Clement of Rome
In Today's General Address, Pope Benedict spoke on Clement of Rome 3rd successor to Peter as Bishop of Rome.
Clement's intervention -- we are still in the first century -- was called upon because of the serious problems the Church of Corinth was undergoing; the priests of the community, in fact, had been deposed by some young upstarts. The painful event is remembered, once again by St. Irenaeus who writes, "Under Clement, having given rise to a rather serious contrast between the Corinthian brothers, the Church of Rome sent the Corinthians a very important letter to reconcile them in peace to renew their faith and to announce the tradition, a tradition they had so newly received from the apostles" (Adv. Haer. 3,3,3).Therefore, we could say that this letter is a first exercise of a Primate of Rome after the death of St. Peter. Clement's letter touches upon topics dear to St. Paul who had written two great letters to the Corinthians, in particular the theological dialectic, always pertinent, between the indicative of salvation and the imperative of moral commitment.
Something Benedict doesn't mention, because it's not the point of his address, is that this intervention by the Pope of Rome occurred even though the Apostle John was still alive at this point. It shows the importance of the Bishop of Rome, at that early time of Christianity, that he was seen as a more appropriate source for assistance than a living Apostle.