Open dissent causes disunity and begins the groundwork of schism, which will then be a grave sin against charity. Since the time of so much confusion has entered the life of many dioceses in the U.S. and abroad, that many people in good faith find it impossible to give religious assent to the teaching that contraceptive birth control is intrinsically sinful. It really means that no one, not even the authorized persons who speak in the name of Jesus, can be a source of truth for them. One wonders why they choose to remain in the Catholic Church unless for accidental motives such as private devotions. Beyond question, the principal cause for this breakdown in communication between the Church's official teaching and ordinary Catholics has been due to radical theological dissent tolerated and permitted by the Church authorities for many years, with an occasional public or private reprimand for certain theologians.
Faith is a free gift, but it can be sinned against and lost.
So, we must nourish it by prayer, think about it lovingly, live it morally, and celebrate it liturgically. We received our faith from our Mother the Church. Loving her means learning to trust her teachings in her ordinary and everyday instructions even when those teachings are not easy to live nor popular with the culture around us. Cole's words are most apropos in considering the new encyclical. Time will tell whether it was prudentially right or wrong for the authorities to tolerate the radical dissent he writes about.