Talk:Papal primacy/20-June-2015-draft-appeal-canons

Appeal canons
The Council of Sardica (343) canons 3–5, which the Council of Trullo (692) canon 2 accepted for the Byzantine Church, codified a facet of auctoritas as the court of final instance empowered to review the trial records of episcopal courts of first instance and order retrials.

Understanding the primacy of the Bishop of Rome "is necessarily relevant to the interpretation of the canons." According to Hess, historically "a certain undefined and occasionally exercised primacy of leadership was attributed," but an assumption that these canons "involved an attribution of jurisdiction" is a fallacy since they emphasized the moral authority of the Bishop of Rome. The canons "formula represents a stage of development towards the notion of papal jurisdiction."

The Council of Sardica was not an ecumenical council since many bishops, including some Arians, abandoned the assembly.

It was a licit and orthodox provincial synod of Eastern bishops recognizing the right of appeal with special reference to the action of Athanasius.

Canon 3 defines that a provincial tribunal of bishops, from inside a defendant-bishop's province, is the court of first instance for a trial; defines that the Bishop of Rome is the court of final instance; defines that the judgment of the tribunal of bishops, from inside a defendant-bishop's province, may be appealed to the Bishop of Rome; defines that the Bishop of Rome may review the trial records and either affirm the judgment of the tribunal of bishops, from inside a defendant-bishop's province, or order a first retrial; defines that a tribunal of bishops, from outside a defendant-bishop's province, is the court of first instance for a first retrial; defines that a judgment affirmed by the Bishop of Rome has no recourse.

Canon 4 forbids the ordination of a replacement candidate to assume the defendant-bishop's office until after the Bishop of Rome reviews trial records and renders a judgment on an appeal.

Canon 5 provides that the pope shall appoint as judge either a neighboring bishop or a papal legate.

Turner wrote that this formulation allowed and yet limited appeals, left each case to be dealt with by local knowledge and yet introduced an arbiter superior to local prejudice.

The four most significant elements which developed, according to, were:
 * the judicial function of metropolitans
 * the stated number of bishops who form a court
 * the personal jurisdiction in appeals
 * the quasi-ecumenical position of the Bishop of Rome