The heretic is one who has an opinion; and that is what the word itself signifies. What does it mean to have an opinion? It is to follow one's own particular thought and feeling. But the Catholic is catholic: that is to say, he is universal; and without having any particular sentiment, he follows without hesitation that of the Church.

Le propre de l'hérétique, c'est-à-dire de colui qui a une opinion particulière, est de s'attacher à ses propres pensées; et le propre du catholique, c'est-à-dire de l'universel, est de préférer à ses sentiments le sentiment commun de tout l'Eglise.

L'hérétique est celui qui ha une opinion; et c'est ce que le mot même signifie. Quest-ce a dire, avoir une opinion? C'est suivre sa propre pensée et son sentiment particulier. Mais le Catholique est catholique: c'est-a-dire qu'il est universel; et sans avoir de sentiment particulier, il suit sans hèsiter celui de l'Eglise.

It is on account of theology alone that any assertion whatsoever should be called catholic or heretical. For only an assertion which is consonant with theology is truly catholic, and only one which is known to be opposed to theology is known to be heretical. For if some assertion were found to be opposed to decrees of the highest pontiffs, or also of general councils or also to laws of the emperors, nevertheless, if it were not in conflict with theology, even if it could be considered false, erroneous or unjust, it should not be counted as a heresy.

You know, I found out recently that the word "heretic" comes from the Greek word "airetikós", meaning "able to choose" — which pretty much says it all, don't you think?

The worst kind of heretic is one who, teaching for the most part true Catholic doctrine, adds a word of heresy like a drop of poison in a glass of water."

"Some religions actually go so far as to label anyone who belongs to a religious sect other than their own a heretic, even though the overall doctrines and impressions of godliness are nearly the same. For example: The Catholics believe the Protestants are doomed to Hell simply because they do not belong to the Catholic Church. In the same way, many splinter groups of the Christian faith, such as the evangelical or revivalist churches, believe the Catholics worship graven images. (Christ is depicted in the image that is most physiologically akin to the individual worshipping him, and yet the Christians criticize "heathens" for the worship of graven images.) And the Jews have always been given the Devil's name."

The faithful are called out by the word of the living God to live Catholicism in the image of God, the One and the Trinity. Plurality is the very essence of Catholicism: unity in diversity, bound by a deep bond of love.

To a born-again atheist like myself, it is clear that each of us has multiple selves, talents, perceptions. But to the Roman Catholic, unity is all.

Whoever has an opinion of his own, and honestly expresses it, will be guilty of heresy. Heresy is what the minority believe; it is the name given by the powerful to the doctrine of the weak.

Catholicism has an essence like anything else, a very, very defined essence with many, many characteristics. If something defects from Catholicism, it is opposed to the Catholic Church. There can be nothing more opposed than a false rite which is supposed to be the vehicle of truth. It’s like an evil or poisonous medicine. The very purpose of medicine is to cure. Poison is contrary to the very essence of medicine, and so you know a false rite is just something that is totally unacceptable.

Heresy is the eternal dawn, the morning star, the glittering herald of the day. Heresy is the last and best thought. It is the perpetual New World, the unknown sea, toward which the brave all sail. It is the eternal horizon of progress. Heresy extends the hospitalities of the brain to a new thought. Heresy is a cradle; orthodoxy, a coffin.

A mops thinks 'I commited heresy'. But did it?
To be a heretic, you have to know the Spirit.

Scaffolds, dungeons, jails flourish only in the shadow of a faith — of that need to believe which has infested the mind forever. The devil pales beside the man who owns a truth, his truth. We are unfair to a Nero, a Tiberius: it was not they who invented the concept heretic: they were only degenerate dreamers who happened to be entertained by massacres. The real criminals are men who establish an orthodoxy on the religious or political level, men who distinguish between the faithful and the schismatic.