I would have liked to locate the Catholic News Service version of this story if only because I think the LA Times link will expire within a week or two.

The reliable Fr. John Dietzen has said that only a Catholic may be declared a heretic but that seems oxymoronic to me. A Catholic is a Catholic and a heretic is not. But what he means, I think, is that only someone who should know better can be expected to live up to what they know and can be blamed for not doing so.

The ironic thing about excommunication is that the one so penalized does not care.