cases where the bishop of Rome decides that the bishops of a neighbouring province alone are insufficient. : if a bishop is "quick to anger" and excommunicates a priest or deacon hastily, then the priest or deacon has recourse by asking neighboring bishops, as a court of second instance, for a hearing and review of his case. Provision must be made that an innocent man be not condemned or deprived of communion with the Church; nevertheless, the priest or deacon will remain excluded from communion until his case is decided. A hearing should not be denied. The neighboring bishops, as a court of second instance, may either approve or revise the sentence. Since a bishop should not "suffer wrong or insult," if the neighboring bishops, as a court of second instance, "observe arrogance and pride" in the priest or deacon, then they may admonish the priest or deacon to obey "a bishop whose commands are proper and right." A bishop ought to manifest love and charity to his clergy, and ministers ought to obey their bishop. Legacy Both parties believed they had acted rightly: those of the East, because the Western bishops had insisted that Athanasius and Paul, whom they had deposed, should be accorded seats; and the Western bishops because of the retirement of those who had deposed them before the matter had been examined. The council failed entirely to accomplish its purpose. The council did not universally represent the church and is not one of the ecumenical councils. Two synodical letters were written: one to the clergy and faithful of Alexandria, the other to the bishops of Egypt and Libya. The proposed explanatory revision of the Nicene Creed was rejected by the council. The mutual anathematizations by the council and the counter-synod of Philippopolis led to the first schism between the Eastern Church and the Western Church. See also Council of Philippopolis Notes References Works cited Translation taken from Further reading Louis Duchesne, "Hist. ancienne de l'Eglise", II, 215 J. Friedrich, Die Unechtheit der Canones von Sardika (Vienna, 1902) Franz Xaver von Funk, "Die Echtheit der Canones von Sardica," Historisches Jahrbuch der Gorresgesellschaft, xxiii. (1902), pp. 497–5 16; ibid. xxvi. (1905), pp. 1–18, 255-274 External links Sardica History of Sofia 340s in the Roman Empire 4th-century Christianity Arianism