When the Devil tells you that you can avoid the ultimate choice between obedience to God and obedience to the world by privatizing your faith and becoming schizophrenic—that is, by following one law in church and a different law in parliament—this is a trick. You cannot have it both ways. Either Jesus is Lord of all, or he is not Lord at all. 

British Liberal Democrat MP Chris Coghlan expressed his outrage by posting on X, condemning his parish priest, the Rev. Ian Vane, for disciplining him after he voted for the euthanasia bill in the House of Commons. Coghlan stated that:

My Catholic Priest publicly announced at every mass he was denying me Holy Communion following the assisted dying vote. Children who are friends of my children were there. This followed a direct threat in writing to do this four days before the vote. 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. This was utterly disrespectful to my family, my constituents including the congregation, and the democratic process. My private religion will continue to have zero direct relevance to my work as an MP representing all my constituents without fear or favour.

Let’s break this down and analyze the claim.

First, he admits that his priest gave him prior warning four days ahead of time. He consciously defied his church; it was not ignorance. As The Observer documents, both his bishop, Richard Moth, and the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the United Kingdom, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, had already expressed opposition to the bill. Coghlan knew he was going against what his Church teaches.

Read More