The Very Reverend Julian Large has pleaded, in fraternal charity, with MPs who voted in favour of either abortion up until birth or assisted suicide not to present themselves to receive Holy Communion.
Fr Large is Provost of the Brompton Oratory in London, a community of 10 priests who are part of the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri.
According to a source close to the Herald, during his Sunday homily at the church in the Diocese of Westminster, London, he reflected on the recent example of an MP who had voted in favour of assisted suicide, and who was told by his parish priest that he must not receive Communion unless he had repented.
He was referring to Chris Coghlan, the Liberal Democrat MP for Dorking and Horley in Surrey, who backed the Terminally Ill Adults Bill, which seeks to roll out assisted suicide across England and Wales.
Mr Coghlan said Father Ian Vane, the priest at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Dorking, wrote to him before the votes and then, last week, told people attending Mass that he would be refusing him Communion.
Fr Large commended the priest for his courage and charity in calling the MP to repentance.
Fr Julian acknowledged that he did not recognise any of the names of the Catholic MPs who voted in favour of either of the bills and therefore would not be in any position to refuse them Communion. However, he pleaded that if any were present at Mass, they first repent of their sins and receive absolution in the sacrament of Penance before presenting themselves at the altar rail.
He encouraged Catholics more broadly to reflect on whether they were receiving Communion worthily, and to approach Holy Communion as though it were their first and their last.
The neo-classical church offers Holy Mass eight times on Sundays and four times on weekdays, according to both the Extraordinary Form and the Ordinary Form. Confessions are available on weekdays for six hours, both at the Oratory House and in the church, and at different times throughout Saturday and Sunday.
The community also offers men’s groups, catechism and scripture classes, an adult baptism course, a Catholic inquiry course, youth and young adult groups, scout groups, a mothers and babies class, has an active branch of the Confraternity of the Precious Blood and St Vincent de Paul, and publishes its own monthly magazine.
Fr Large, who was awarded the OBE in 2024 for his services to faith and integration, has been Provost of the community since 2012. Before joining the Oratory, he studied at Oxford University and was a columnist for the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Under his leadership, the Brompton Oratory has become a centrepiece for the rejuvenation of Catholicism in the UK. Holy Mass is offered reverently and draws thousands of attendees each weekend, many of whom are young people seeking the counter-cultural truth of the Catholic Faith.
(Photo credit: London Oratory)
