Catholic MP warns of ‘witch hunt' over assisted dying bill
Chris Coghlan's priest wrote to him before the House of Commons vote to legalise assisted dying, warning he would be 'obstinately persevering' in sin if he supported the bill.
Coghlan, a Liberal Democrat, supported the bill despite the threats. It has passed the Commons and will start its journey through the House of Lords in September. Fr Ian Vane, the priest, went on to give three masses publicly denouncing Coghlan for his decision.
Coghlan called for disciplinary sanctions against Vane. Senior figures in the church are understood to have ruled that the priest was within his rights to make the decision, but they are unhappy that the issue was not dealt with in private.
Coghlan said the incident shows there was a 'conflict of interest' for Catholic MPs and Lords.
'I know of at least 13 other Catholic MPs who voted either for assisted dying or to decriminalise abortion, and there appears to be a public witch hunt', Coghlan said. 'The Catholic press is pushing for them to be denied communion as well.
'But we're not here as Catholic MPs, we're here to represent our constituents … this is a clear attempt to meddle with the political process by the church.'
Religion was as strong a predictor of how an MP would vote on the assisted dying bill as the party they belong to. Some 57 per cent of Christian MPs opposed the bill, including 74 per cent of Catholics, compared with 18 per cent of non-believers.
Coghlan, who represents Dorking and Horley in Surrey, said that MPs should be forced to declare their membership of a faith before discussing life issues like abortion and assisted dying. 'In the same way that if you own shares in a company and you're talking about that company in a debate, you would declare that conflict of interest beforehand. And you probably would not vote either.
'I think it's a major problem for parliament in that we have this bill going through right now and the actions of Catholic parliamentarians could have a material impact on that.
'It is incredibly important for public trust in parliament, that parliamentarians are able to demonstrate that they're acting in the best interests of their constituents or the country in the case of the Lords.
'It is hard to see how that is the case if they're also being required by their faith to vote in a certain way, with the threat of public disciplinary sanctions as happened to me, and looks like may happen to other MPs.'
• Assisted dying: 8 practical questions MPs still need to answer
Under the laws of the Roman Catholic church, priests 'cannot deny the sacraments to those who seek them at appropriate times', but there can be exceptions. One law, Canon 915, forbids a priest from administering Holy Communion to those who have been excommunicated or formally barred from the sacrament and also from those they judge to 'obstinately persist in manifest grave sin'.
This gives a priest the right to use their discretion. Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, had repeatedly called on Catholics to put pressure on their MPs to oppose the assisted dying bill, but no Catholic bishop or archbishop has been willing to comment publicly on Vane's decision to refuse communion to Coghlan, deeming it to be a matter for the local diocese of Arundel and Brighton.
The priest and diocese were approached for comment. The Diocese of Arundel and Brighton said that neither would provide any further comment.It is understood, however, that some senior figures in the English and Welsh church feel the priest should have taken greater heed of the late Pope Francis's words in 2016 when he said: 'There is a need to avoid judgements which do not take into account the complexity of various situations.'
• How did your MP vote on assisted dying?
Vane's move to publicly declare his decision to his congregation during a mass service is understood to have caused greater consternation among senior clerics. A source said that priests were expected to share the church's teaching and 'accompany individuals' while they are making important decisions, but that this should take place 'in a sheltered environment and not in the glare of public attention'.
In the meantime, Coghlan said, his family had been 'devastated' by the episode. 'The priest gave my daughter her first communion, children from her class were in the congregation, so for him to come out and try and publicly humiliate me … it's difficult not to feel very angry.
'He didn't respect the fact that I'm simply trying to do my job as an MP. We get enough abuse as MPs — you don't expect it from your own priest.'
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