EN
John among the evangelists is not only designed with the image of eagle, but also from the first centuries on, he still is called in the East as John the Theologian. From his school came the first systematic theologian Irenaeus of Lugdunum in Gaul (now Lyons in France), who in his native Smyrna had been a disciple of the bishop Polycarp, a formerly listener of John himself, when this lived in Ephesus. The teaching about the Holy Spirit, and especially about His eternal procession is built upon his writings; and beside the biblical inspiration he received a special gift of the Spirit „who spoke trough the prophets”. His aboundant message is invaluable not only for theology, but also to her shoot, which should be spirituality, first of all the priestly and seminarian one, all the more because John was the only unmarried apostle, becoming – also in this respect – a paragon for the Roman Catholic clergy.