AN MP who has been denied communion by his local Roman Catholic priest over his stance on assisted dying has described the decision as “utterly disrespectful”.
On Sunday, the priest of St Joseph’s, Dorking, Fr Ian Vane, told congregants at the 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. masses that the Liberal Democrat MP for Dorking and Horley, Chris Coghlan, would be refused communion, after he had voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Neither Mr Coghlan nor his family was at the services.
According to a report in The Observer, Fr Vane had previously written to Mr Coghlan warning that voting in favour of the proposed legislation would be “obstinately persevering” in sin, and that he would be refused communion if he did so.
In social-media posts on Sunday afternoon, Mr Coghlan said that Fr Vane’s public announcements were “utterly disrespectful to my family, my constituents including the congregation, and the democratic process”. He said that his religion would “continue to have zero direct relevance” to his work as an MP, which entailed “representing all my constituents without fear or favour”.
“It is a matter of grave public interest, the extent to which religious MPs came under pressure to represent their religion and not necessarily their constituents in the assisted dying vote,” he said.
On 20 June, Mr Coghlan voted for the Private Member’s Bill introduced by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater. It passed its Third Reading in the House of Commons by 23 votes (News, 20 June).
Ms Leadbeater described Fr Vane’s decision as “totally unacceptable”, but said that “religious leaders and people of faith have every right to communicate their views to their MPs and to parliament as a whole”, a report in The Observer said.
A spokesperson for the RC diocese of Arundel & Brighton said that the vote was “a complex one for all involved and while many in our society are deeply saddened by the result, we recognise the difficult task faced by MPs in seeking to represent their constituents.”
The spokesperson said that, before the vote, the Bishop of Arundel & Brighton, the Rt Revd Richard Moth, had “encouraged members of clergy and lay faithful to write to their MPs in a private capacity to express their concerns about the Bill, and to ask them to vote against the proposed legislation.
“Bishop Richard spoke to Mr Coghlan earlier this week and has offered to meet him in person to discuss the issues and concerns raised. Our prayers remain with all those impacted by the passing of this Bill, and the peers in the House of Lords who are engaged in the next stage of this debate.”