Didascalia Apostolorum

If you [the bishop] are not merciful to the penitent, you sin against the Lord God because you have not been persuaded, nor have you believed our Savior and God by doing what he did for that sinful woman whom the elders set before him and went away, leaving him to pass sentence. But he who searches the hearts asked her, “ ‘Have the elders condemned you, my daughter?’ She answered him, ‘No, Lord.’ Then he said to her, ‘Go your way. I also do not condemn you.’ ” This is where our Savior, King and God must be a pattern for you bishops.