The previous post on this subject was occasioned by a post over at Creative Minority Report “Cdl. Dolan: Yes, We Pay For Murder, But Under Protest”. The author of that post, and most of the commentators all assume that Cardinal Dolan is in the wrong. Only a few mentioned the magisterial teaching on cooperation with evil.
Conservative Catholics boast of their faithfulness to the Magisterium and the Bishops — until something is said that contradicts their own ideas, assumptions, and limited understanding. Then they rail against any Bishop or theologian or fellow Catholic who contradicts their own views. Many conservative Catholics are not really following the Pope and the Bishops, many are not truly led by magisterial teaching. Rather, they have a set of beliefs based on conservatism, on their own ideas mixed with many misunderstandings, on popular distortions of doctrine spread by the internet and by popular bloggers.
When the Magisterium, including even the Pope or an Ecumenical Council, teaches something contrary to the views of conservative Catholics, many such persons will reject that teaching. They are conservatives first, and Catholics second. They are not conservative CATHOLICS, but rather CONSERVATIVE catholics. They excoriate anyone who has a theological position deemed to be liberal (or even moderate) on any issue. They speak as if faithful dissent from non-infallible teachings were not possible, or as if all magisterial teachings are infallible.
If the Pope or a Bishop says anything they like, even in the realm of discipline, they treat it as absolute dogma. But if the Pope, or an Ecumenical Council, or a Bishops’ Conference, or an individual Bishop asserts anything contrary to their own overly-simplistic understanding of the Faith, they utterly reject the assertion without thinking, without a theological argument. It is as if they have no obligation to give the words of Church leaders any weight at all — when those words are contrary to their own views.
Here is an astounding example of this type of thinking. Fr. Scanlon emphatically asserts that no dissent from non-infallible teachings of the Magisterium is legitimate. Then he cites a non-infallible teaching of the U.S. Bishops and a U.S. Cardinal, and he dissents from that teaching.
There are two false premises in operation here. First, that all magisterial teachings are without error. Second, that if any assertion by a Pope, Council, or Bishop contradicts the views of conservatives, then it is an error and cannot be of the magisterium. So while many conservatives say that magisterial teaching is always entirely without error, they don’t count anything as being of the magisterium if it is contrary to their own ideas. In effect, they are not saying that the magisterium is infallible, but that they themselves are infallible. Therefore, they are uncorrectable. They do not even bother making a theological argument to support their own position. Any contrary position is dismissed by being labeled “liberal”.
Of course, this is not true of every conservative Catholic. But it is a fairly common grave error among conservatives.
by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and
translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.
the reproach of Christ 
Many conservative Catholics actually do believe that Catholic politicians who support legalized abortion or same-sex marriage should be denied Holy Communion, and these conservative Catholics also believe that many bishops, priests, deacons, and extraordinary minsters of Holy Communion do continue to give politicians who support legalized abortion or same-sex marriage Holy Communion when these politicians should be denied Holy Communion. Most American Catholic bishops and priests have not done enough to prevent those who should not be receiving Holy Communion from receiving Holy Communion. Furthermore, most conservative Catholics also oppose actual formal cooperation in direct abortion, direct sterilization, or contraception by priests, bishops, deacons, physicians, nurses, and politicians who are Catholic as well as other employees of organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church.
‘In effect, they are not saying that the magisterium is infallible, but that they themselves are infallible.”
That is, in a sentence, what sums up the best how these people think.
It happens with liberal Catholics as well as conservative Catholics. Whatever contradicts their own understanding cannot possibly be true, they think.
Jesus said the following to Peter regarding the founding of the Catholic Church: “And I say to you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18). Because the Catholic Church traces its founding all the way back to Jesus Christ and because the “gates of Hell” can never prevail over the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church cannot lead its faithful astray. A doctrine of a Pope or Council that meets the required conditions for infallibility must be of the Magisterium, cannot contain errors, and is free from the possibility of error, even when the doctrine is not considered to be conservative. Furthermore, non-infallible doctrines, even those that not considered to be conservative, can become infallible under the Ordinary Universal Magisterium when it has been universally taught as definitely to be held by the Pope and the bishops throughout the world. Non-conservative teachings of the Catholic Church are of the Magisterium and are not always erroneous.