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Sir David Ames defending the place of religion in society during a 2013 debate in OxfordYouTube screenshot

WESTMINSTER, England (LifeSiteNews) — Following the brutal, daylight murder of Catholic MP Sir David Amess, a fellow Catholic lawmaker called for enacting legislation that would protect access to the Church’s Last Rites.

As tributes to the recently fallen and much-loved parliamentarian flowed in from across the political divide during a bicameral session in Westminster Monday, Mike Kane, the Labour Member of Parliament for Wythenshawe and Sale East, drew attention to Amess’ Catholic faith and the fact he had been denied Last Rites as he lay dying from multiple stab wounds.

“Catholics believe that extreme unction helps guide the soul to God after death,” Kane, a Catholic himself, announced to the House of Commons, “so maybe we could come up with an Amess amendment so that no matter where it is, in a care home or at a crime scene, Members, or anybody, can receive that sacrament.”

Continuing, Kane said that though Amess “did not die a martyr,” he died “doing the things he loved and helping constituents.”

“He would have known that the theologian Karl Rahner said that power is a gift from God. That portcullis on the top of our letterheads gives us all that power, whether on the Front Bench, in opposition or on the Back Benches. Let us recommit to Sir David today that we will use that power for the common good,” he said.

Kane hopes to garner support for the Amess Amendment in Parliament. The amendment would be made to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, currently making its way through the House of Lords, the upper chamber of Britain’s Parliament. It would allow priests to pray with dying members of the faithful “in the final moments of life.”

Amess was stabbed numerous times on October 15 as he held a meeting with his constituents in Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. At the time of the attack Fr. Jeffrey Woolnough, a local priest, had made his way to the scene of the crime, that he might offer Last Rites to the dying Catholic politician. However, upon arrival, Woolnough was told by police that he could not cross the cordon, arguing that the area was an active crime scene.

“I told one police officer ‘if he is dying, I need to anoint him,’” said Woolnough, recounting that the same police officer did in fact radio his team to ask whether the priest could be allowed in, the reply to which came back negative. “I’m really sorry Father, but they can’t let you in,” the officer said.

The denial of the sacrament made headlines around the world and prompted Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury, western England, to make a case for last rites to be recognized as an emergency service, granting priests access to the dying.

The bishop argued that “every Catholic Christian hopes to receive the Sacraments and be accompanied by the prayer of the Church in the final crisis of our lives.” In the Catholic Church, the Last Rites offer the faithful proper preparation for their journey into the next life, including penance, anointment, and Viaticum, meant to be the final reception of Holy Communion before judgement by God.

Police have arrested a 25-year-old man of Somali origin in connection with the attack.

According to court reports, Ali Harbi Ali, the suspected murderer, has aligned himself with he Islamic State, a group of murderous Muslim jihadists. Police charged Ali on Thursday with Amess’ murder.

The head of the Crown Prosecution Service’ (CPS) Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, Nick Price, noted that the CPS are treating the crime as an act of terrorism, saying “it had both religious and ideological motivations.”