May 68

This article by Andrea Riccardi examines how the Orthodox theologian Olivier Clément experienced and interpreted the events of May 68. Drawing on historical and theological study, it reconstructs the dual context in which Clément found himself at the time: a teacher at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, at the heart of the Latin Quarter unrest, and a theologian engaged in ecumenical reflection with Marie-Joseph Le Guillou and Jean Bosc. The article shows that Clément refused both enthusiastic adherence to the movement and its outright rejection, seeking to discern within the revolt a mystical aspiration that had gone astray. The main contribution of the study lies in setting this critical reading of 68 alongside the dialogues Clément was simultaneously conducting in Istanbul with Patriarch Athenagoras, a paternal figure embodying a living tradition, and a decisive counterpoint to the generational and institutional rupture represented by May 68.