You’ve provided information about the magisterium, but it doesn’t really address my question about who is going to tell the dissenters that they can’t (or should not) dissent.
That task is assigned to the person who has proper ecclesiastic jurisdiction.
That may be the pastor, bishop, superior of the religious order, etc. In some cases it is tricky; a school or hospital may have one person who is administrator, but a priest is designated as chaplain on behalf of the bishop, to assure its Catholicity.
What should you do if you are aware of dissent, but you aren’t in the chain of command? If you know the “dissenter”, show them why they are wrong. If they are simply misinformed, show them the Catechism, etc. If that is not possible, notify their superior. There is a grievance procedure through Canon Law, if you have a little help. The problem is most “dissenters” are careful not to exactly deny a dogma, but do enormous damage. All you can do is discourage their books, or inviting them to speak, at any church or institution in your area.
It always helps to write a letter to your bishop, documenting when some major dissent happens locally. He may not know about it. If he knows about it, your letter gives him some ammunition, or a caveat, he may be able to later use. The problem is that there are other things going on in your diocese, maybe involving religious orders, lawsuits, or stuff you don’t know about. The bishop can’t address all the problems this year.
It helps if you can show some specific effects: not “this person is a dissenter” but: “our prolife group has been emphasizing the urgency of A, B, and C; our efforts are undermined by this person speaking at this parish, publicized by the diocese, when on September 1 she said “abortion is above my pay grade”. I request speakers be screened for prolife fidelity.” (this example is not made up, I am addressing it with my diocese). In my example, you might think of that speaker as dissenting, but more accurate to say her actions are
imprudent. And imprudent for any Catholic agent to publicize her in any way.
Your letters and emails have more effect than you realize, even though you don’t see immediate improvement. But if you were to go outside, and criticize the bishop to the media, as many are doing now, that does more harm than good. Non Catholics would see your action, not as addressing the problem of dissent, but as addressing the “problem” of
bishops. If you convince them that bishops are a “problem” they would jump to the conclusion the Magisterium is a “problem”. You know, and I know, there are 2 different things here, but evangelicals won’t know that. “If bishops are a problem, then I will stay away from churches that have bishops.”
) but the thing is, that’s one parish out of about a dozen in the area, so we can hardly conclude that it is representative.
