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A:At one time, the normal punishment for a heretic who refused to recant was to be burnt at the stake, although the 'wheel' was sometimes preferred as a particularly vile and public form of excruciatingly slow death. Because no one Church now has absolute power, punishments had to be more subtle, with excommunication the most likely. At one time, excommunication was likely to mean that no member of the Church could help the excommunicant in any way, and could even mean that anyone would be permitted to attack or even murder the person. Nowadays, excommunication for heresy is a more spiritual punishment.

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AnswerThe Church's most extreme punishment for a heretic has always been excommunication, the Church has never had the authority, power, or will to take anyone's life. The Church's mission from Our Blessed Lord is to save souls, and capital punishment would certainly not help this process. To the best of my knowledge the only people who were ever burnt at the stake were women accused of witchcraft in protestant countries by protestant governments, certainly not the Catholic Church.
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