Heckerism \Heck"er*ism\, n. (R. C. Ch.)
   (a) The teaching of Isaac Thomas Hecker (1819-88), which
       interprets Catholicism as promoting human aspirations
       after liberty and truth, and as the religion best suited
       to the character and institutions of the American people.
   (b) Improperly, certain views or principles erroneously
       ascribed to Father Hecker in a French translation of
       Elliott's Life of Hecker. They were condemned as
       "Americanism" by the Pope, in a letter to Cardinal
       Gibbons, January 22, 1899.
       [Webster 1913 Suppl.]