colleagues that peace may be restored to the Church
Universal.
But they still persisted in not showing up, and so
Athanasius flung the gauntlet at them, saying, "I declare
that I shall wash myself clean of all your calumnies, and
shall convict you of oppressing the Churches"; but,
unable to refute him they remained resolutely silent and
unmoved. While all this was going on, a letter arrived
from Emperor Constantius proclaiming his victory over
the Persians. This letter provided the dissident bishops
with the excuse they were waiting for: they must hurry
back to share with the Emperor the celebration of his
victory.^33
Nonetheless the Council of Sardika went ahead
and held its sessions. They passed two major decisions:
to declare their adherence to the Nicene Creed, and to
excommunicate all intruding bishops. They also passed
more church canons which they communicated to all
churches in both East and West. These canons were
accepted, although the Council of Sardika was not
considered ecumenical because of the withdrawal of the
Oriental bishops.
- When the Council wound up its sessions, a full
report of it was sent to both Emperors. A plea was also
made to Constance, Emperor of the West, imploring him
to write to Constantius, Emperor of the East, that he may
validate their decisions. Responding to their plea,
Constance wrote a letter and commissioned two prelates
and a Christian general to carry it to his brother.
Constantius met them well, and to the relief of all who
took to heart the welfare of the Church, approved his
brother's request. Not only that, but-to the chagrin of the
Arians-wrote to Athanasius the following letter:-