LONDON (LifeSiteNews) — A London priest has implored Members of Parliament (MP) who voted to decriminalize abortion up until birth and to legalize euthanasia to refrain from receiving Holy Communion.

According to a source close to The Catholic Herald, Father Julian Large, provost of the Brompton Oratory in London, “pleaded” that any Catholic MPs who voted in favor of the “Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)” bill or the recent decriminalization of abortion repent of these sins in the Sacrament of Confession before presenting themselves to receive Holy Communion.

Fr. Julian Large, Provost of the London Oratory, has pleaded with any MPs attending Mass not to approach the altar rail for Holy Communion if they recently voted to legalise assisted suicide or to decriminalise abortion up to birth. pic.twitter.com/G8dBKjTiLq

— Georgia Leigha Gilholy (@llggeorgia) July 6, 2025

On June 17, 2025, the Parliament of the United Kingdom decriminalized abortion up until birth with an amendment to the “Crime and Policing Bill,” prompting widespread shock and outrage. Only a few days later, on July 20, the House of Commons passed the “End of Life” bill, which, if enacted into law, will allow adults of England and Wales deemed “terminally ill” and who “expect” to die within six months to end their lives prematurely with the involvement of physicians.

The Catholic Church teaches that both abortion and euthanasia are gravely immoral, since they constitute the murder of human life. The Catechism proclaims that every abortion is a “moral evil” (CCC 2271) and that direct euthanasia is “morally unacceptable” (CCC 2277).

Fr. Large reportedly praised Fr. Ian Vane for his “courage and charity” in recently calling MP Chris Coghlan to “repentance” by barring him from Holy Communion over his support of the pro-abortion and pro-euthanasia legislation. Coghlan condemned the move by Fr. Vane, threatening to leave the Catholic Church, and later claimed that the diocesan bishop disavowed the priest’s actions.

Large also took the opportunity to encourage Catholics to consider whether they were receiving Holy Communion in a state of grace and to treat each Communion as if it was their first and last.

Canon law expert Cardinal Raymond Burke has publicly affirmed that the stance of Fr. Large and Fr. Vane is not only justified but obligatory under Canon 915, which states that those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”

A total of 13 Members of Parliament who identify as Catholic voted last month in favor of legislation to legalize abortion up to birth or assisted suicide. Voice of the Family, a UK-based Catholic coalition, subsequently launched a prayer and action campaign on behalf of bishops who continue to admit pro-abortion politicians to Communion.

Fr. Large previously reflected in a 2019 letter posted to the London Oratory website, “The further that our society moves away from the Gospel, the blinder and the more brutal this world inevitably becomes. When barbaric legislation facilitating infanticide is seen as a reason for public celebration it is hard to imagine how much lower we could sink.”

He observed that “we are in serious danger of becoming desensitised to great evil,” continuing, “But we must not allow ourselves to be desensitised, because if we fail to challenge those of our elected politicians who vote in favour of legislation facilitating infanticide… then we become complicit in a sin that cries to Heaven for retribution.”