The Deacon's Bench
From The Telegraph:
One of Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic MPs says he feels unable to take Holy Communion in his local church after his bishop suggested that politicians who voted for same-sex marriage should be denied the sacrament.
Conor Burns, who co-chairs a parliamentary committee on Vatican relations, said the remarks by the Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Philip Egan, whose diocese includes his Bournemouth West constituency, were a “tragedy”.
Mr Burns, who is gay, said the bishop’s remarks effectively called into question whether he would be able to practise his faith fully in his local diocese. He said that since the bishop’s comments he had attended church but not taken Communion.
The MP, who has spoken about having “agonised” over his vote on the issue, disclosed that he had also received “hurtful” messages from other Catholics saying that he had effectively “excommunicated” himself by voting for gay marriage.
The controversy erupted last week after a the publication of an interview Bishop Egan gave to “LifeSiteNews”, a pro-life website, in which he said he was not in favour of Catholic MPs who broke with the Church’s line receiving mass.
Likening the issue to abortion, he added: “When people are not in communion with the Catholic Church on such a central thing as the value of life of the unborn child, and also in terms of the teachings of the Church on marriage and family life – they are voting in favour of same-sex marriage – then they shouldn’t be receiving Holy Communion.”
He added that he would that he would not withhold the sacrament unless the other bishops in England and Wales agreed to do so as well.
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