Periodically this question erupts in comboxes

A reader asks:

First needs to be answered the question “What is a Catholic” – and the answer needs to be canonical, not just various shades of philosophical. Is heretical the opposite of Catholic?

Mark – I’d love it if you would weigh in here a bit (not a jolly joke I promise ) since my knowledge of the issue is rather slim once I started to think about it for longer than a moment….

Heretical is a piece of Catholic. Catholic is believing and trying to do what the Church teaches. As far as I know, nobody is Catholic, including, emphatically, me. That’s why I judge *ideas* as Catholic or non-Catholic but don’t waste time judging people as Catholic or non-Catholic. As I say, There Ain’t No Pure Church