The House Chaplin offered his resignation but wait, now he’s not resigning? Paul Ryan reinstates Chaplin Pat Conroy shortly after asking for his resignations. What changed?
Just a week ago, Conroy’s ouster had threatened to spark a political and theological firestorm, according to Washington Post. Most lawmakers thought Conroy’s original resignation, announced in mid-April, was voluntary, but Ryan faced a bipartisan backlash, particularly among the more than 140 Catholics in the House, when word spread that he had forced the priest into retirement.
Ryan, however, maintains his original decision and says that he is heavily disappointed that his words were taken so far out of context. Afterall, Ryan requested the resignation after receiving several serious complaints about the Chaplin’s behavior and his treatment of those who sought the Chaplin’s guidance.
As Reported By The Hill:
House Chaplain Patrick Conroy has retracted his resignation from the post, arguing he did nothing to deserve being pushed out last month by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and wishes to remain at least through the end of the year, when his term expires.
“I have never been disciplined, nor reprimanded, nor have I ever heard a complaint about my ministry during my time as House Chaplain,” Conroy wrote in his letter to Ryan on Thursday. Ryan later said he had “accepted” the letter and would allow Conroy to stay on.
“It is my desire to continue to serve as House Chaplain … to the end of my current two-year term, and beyond, unless my services are officially terminated (however that is properly done) or I am not re-elected to the position by the membership of the House,” Conroy wrote.
In the letter, Conroy, a Jesuit priest appointed in 2011, said Ryan’s chief of staff, Jonathan Burks, approached the chaplain last month requesting his resignation on behalf of Ryan, himself a Catholic.
