In the peaceful parish of Saint Joseph in Dorking, an unusual scene unfolded last Sunday: Father Ian Vane, the parish priest, publicly announced during Mass that the local Member of Parliament, Chris Coghlan, could no longer receive Holy Communion. The reason: his vote in favor of the assisted suicide bill, passed in the House of Commons on June 20th. The news has caused a stir across the Channel and reignites the debate on the fidelity of Catholics engaged in politics.
Chris Coghlan, the Liberal Democrat MP for the Dorking and Horley constituency, reacted strongly to this decision. Describing the priest's attitude as "scandalous" and "disrespectful," he filed a formal complaint with the bishop of the diocese, Bishop Richard Moth, accusing him of attempting to influence the behavior of an elected official through threats. On the social network X, Coghlan even stated that his "private religion should have no bearing on his role as an MP."
But this attempt to absolve himself of the consequences of an act as grave as supporting the legalization of euthanasia did not convince Catholics faithful to the Church's teaching. Bishop Moth, far from disavowing his priest, had himself, a few days earlier, called on the faithful of his diocese to write to their representatives urging them to oppose this bill. In a firm pastoral letter, he reminded them that far from being an act of compassion, this law risked, on the contrary, exerting unbearable pressure on the most vulnerable, particularly the elderly or disabled, by making them feel they are a burden on society.
Father Ian Vane, as a faithful servant of the Gospel and Catholic doctrine, had taken care to write to Chris Coghlan even before the vote, to warn him very clearly: supporting this law would be a flagrant contradiction with the Catholic faith, an act of "murder" in his own words, and would constitute obstinate persistence in sin. He warned that, in this context, giving him Communion would amount to scandalizing the faithful and betraying the holiness of the sacrament.
And he kept his word. The following Sunday, without the MP being present, the priest informed the assembly that, due to his vote in favor of assisted suicide, Mr. Coghlan could no longer receive Communion. He reiterated his announcement at the next Mass, in front of approximately 150 faithful. Father Vane's courageous act has been hailed by many Catholics as a salutary reminder that the Eucharist cannot be given to those who publicly reject natural and divine law.
On the side of the bill's promoters, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater—the originator of the bill—came to the defense of her colleague. According to her, Coghlan acted with "courage" and "principle" in voting according to his conscience. However, she omitted to mention that conscience does not oppose revealed truth, and that God's law cannot be circumvented by mere personal opinion.
Not once did Leadbeater or Coghlan acknowledge the Church's immutable teaching on the gravity of assisted suicide. And above all, neither of the two seemed to understand that publicly supporting such a measure places a Catholic in a state of broken communion with the Church, thus preventing him, as long as he has not shown repentance, from receiving Holy Communion.
The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, for its part, continues to strongly denounce this slide towards a culture of death. Archbishop John Sherrington expressed his deep disappointment following the bill's passage in the House of Commons. He recalled that this law risks undermining the very foundations of care, creating a climate of fear among the vulnerable, and opening the door to further abuses.