William of Ockham appears to have been the first medieval theologian to attempt to formally categorise the theological censure of his time.
[7] "[T]he supreme organs for [theological] notes and censures (and exclusively so for infallible matters) are the Pope and the Ecumenical Councils.
Limited competences attaches to the Roman Congregations, Provincial Synods (episcopal conferences) and the individual bishops and major superiors of religious orders.
"[8] "If [a theological censure] be pronounced by the Teaching Authority of the Church it is an authoritative or judicial judgment (censura authentica or iudicialis).
"[9] Theological censures are divided into three groups by the Catholic Encyclopedia; this division is according to as the censures bear principally upon either 1) the degree, or 2) the expression, or 3) the consequences, of condemned propositions:[2] There are four degrees of heresy according to the Catholic Encyclopedia in another one of its articles:[10] Catholic theologian Ludwig Ott describes the following censures, which he says are the most common theological censures:[9] The Sommaire de théologie dogmatique proposes the following degrees of theological censure:[11] Catholic theologian John Hardon states:[1] A heretical proposition is opposed to a revealed dogma; proximate to heresy is opposed to a truth commonly held to be revealed; erroneous is opposed to conclusions derived from revelation; false is opposed to dogmatic facts; temerarious deviates from the accepted teaching of the Church; badly expressed is subject to misunderstanding; captious is reprehensible because of its intentional ambiguity; and scandalous because it gives rise to error among the faithful.