“…there is an odd gnostic-myth floating around Catholic circles today that a heretic in the hierarchy can only be recognized by either a group of Cardinals or an obsolete battery of canonical trials. While it is true that the saints seem to delineate between “material heresy” (small points) and “manifest heresy” (obvious heresy) the latter is held by saints to be easily-identified by your average faithful lay-man or lay-woman living in sanctifying grace. To believe secret wisdom on recognizing orthodoxy belongs to a shifty group of Cardinals is peak-gnosticism. (Gnosticism is the old and tired heresy that only a certain group of “enlightened-elites” have access to “secret” divine-knowledge.)
“Rather, the Catholic Church has always taught you only need the true faith and blue-collar common-sense to identify a manifest heretic. This means you do not need a group of Cardinals behind you with “an imperfect council” or canonists forming a “canonical trial” to recognize an obvious enemy of the Catholic faith. (This is important because a manifest-heretic, by definition, ceases not only to be a member of the hierarchy, but even a member of the Catholic Church.)
“Although a “material-heretic” could historically be judged a “formal-heretic” only by a canonical trial, Fr. Paul Kramer asserts in his recent book that “any prelate can be judged for heresy by his inferiors” in regards to obvious (or manifest) heresy. In other words, if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck—it is a duck! And, as such, “the duck” heretic must be avoided as a non-Catholic intruder (even if he purports himself to be part of the hierarchy) by your average member of the lay-faithful. (The key-word here is faithful, as in catechized and orthodox.)”
Go read the rest HERE. Well worth your time. A man who is a public heretic cannot hold ecclesiastical office; he has in fact placed himself outside the Church, and you don’t need any sort of rank, degree, or office to be able to call it out. I’m reminded of an old Star Trek quote from the episode Conscience of the King:
Lenore: “Who are YOU to say what harm was done?”
Kirk: “Who do I have to be?”