Former House chaplain Rev. Patrick Conroy penned a scathing letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday, rescinding his previous offer of resignation.
Conroy last month said that Ryan ousted him for no reason, asking him to resign without explaining why. He told The New York Times that he suspected it was over a prayer that got "too political" ahead of the passage of the GOP tax bill. The chaplain offers daily Catholic prayers for the House of Representatives before each session begins.
Conroy said he was bewildered at the time, but submitted a letter of resignation per Ryan's request. In his Thursday letter to the speaker, the chaplain said he'd like to take it back, and that he had no intention of going anywhere unless given an explanation or fired. "I have never been disciplined, nor reprimanded, nor have I ever heard a complaint about my ministry during my time as House chaplain," wrote Conroy.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Ryan dismissed Conroy's suggestion that he was asked to resign for political reasons, reports NBC News. "This is not about politics or prayers, it was about pastoral services," said Ryan, arguing that members of Congress were not being "adequately served."
Conroy wrote that Ryan hadn't even personally reached out with the request, instead sending his chief of staff, who told Conroy "maybe it's time that we had a chaplain that wasn't a Catholic."
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
