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4/27/2018 4:40 am  #1


House Chaplain Was Asked to Resign. He Still Doesn’t Know Why.

House Chaplain Was Asked to Resign. He Still Doesn’t Know Why.




The chaplain of the House said on Thursday that he was blindsided when Speaker Paul D. Ryan asked him to resign two weeks ago, a request that he complied with but was never given a reason for.

The sudden resignation of the chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy, shocked members of both parties. He had served in the role since he was nominated in 2011 by Speaker John A. Boehner, a fellow Catholic. In an interview, Father Conroy was categorical: His departure was not voluntary.

“I was asked to resign, that is clear,” Father Conroy said. As for why, he added, “that is unclear.”

“I certainly wasn’t given anything in writing,” he said. “Catholic members on both sides are furious.”

Father Conroy said he received the news from Mr. Ryan’s chief of staff. “The speaker would like your resignation,” Father Conroy recalled being told. He complied.

“As you have requested, I hereby offer my resignation as the 60th chaplain of the United States House of Representatives,” Father Conroy wrote in a letter to Mr. Ryan several days later. “I wish all the best of the House of Representatives, and for your upcoming search for a worthy successor in the office of the chaplain.”

His final day will be May 24.

Father Conroy’s resignation is all the more contentious in Catholic circles because Mr. Ryan is a Catholic conservative, whereas Father Conroy is a Jesuit, a branch that is viewed by some as more liberal.

Asked whether differences in politics were a factor in his ouster, Father Conroy said: “I do not want to politicize this. I have thoughts about it, but I am not contributing to that.”

But, he said, Capitol Hill is an inherently political place. “There are Catholics who are Republicans and there are Catholics who are Democrats,” he said. “I don’t know if there is a religious divide; there certainly is a political one.”

Though Father Conroy said he did not know whether politics were behind his departure, he pointed to a prayer he had given on the House floor in November, when Congress was debating tax overhaul legislation.

“May all members be mindful that the institutions and structures of our great nation guarantee the opportunities that have allowed some to achieve great success, while others continue to struggle,” he prayed. “May their efforts these days guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans.”


About a week later, Father Conroy said, he heard from the speaker’s office. “A staffer came down and said, We are upset with this prayer; you are getting too political,” he said. “It suggests to me that there are members who have talked to him about being upset with that prayer.”

Shortly after, when he saw Mr. Ryan himself, Father Conroy said that the speaker told him, “Padre, you just got to stay out of politics.”

“That is what I have tried to do for seven years,” Father Conroy said. “It doesn’t sound political to me.”

“If you are hospital chaplain, you are going to pray about health,” he added. “If you are a chaplain of Congress, you are going to pray about what Congress is doing.”

Father Conroy said that was the only time anyone from the speaker’s office had ever chastised him for veering into the political realm. “I’ve never been talked to about being too political in seven years,” he said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/us/politics/patrick-conroy-paul-ryan-house-chaplain.html?hpw&rref=politics&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
 

4/27/2018 5:57 am  #2


Re: House Chaplain Was Asked to Resign. He Still Doesn’t Know Why.

He wasn't a good "christian' like the rest of the GOP ! 


"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
 
 

4/27/2018 6:55 am  #3


Re: House Chaplain Was Asked to Resign. He Still Doesn’t Know Why.

Shortly after the speaker asked Father Conroy to resign, Ryan put out the standard disclaimer about “what a good guy” he was and his “thoughts and prayers” go out to the cleric.

Not really . . . But that seems to be the norm for our legislative ”leaders” in this day and age.

 

4/27/2018 6:59 am  #4


Re: House Chaplain Was Asked to Resign. He Still Doesn’t Know Why.

The man's prayer says it all about the current GOP's view of America.

 

4/28/2018 7:07 am  #5


Re: House Chaplain Was Asked to Resign. He Still Doesn’t Know Why.

Dear Lord,
Please make me the kind of Christian that Paul Ryan would fire.


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
     Thread Starter
 

5/03/2018 5:43 pm  #6


Re: House Chaplain Was Asked to Resign. He Still Doesn’t Know Why.

Who, from either side of the isle, would like to argue that Paul Ryan isn't the biggest dope to ever sit in the speaker's chair?


Paul Ryan said Thursday he accepts the decision by the Rev. Pat Conroy, the House chaplain, to rescind his resignation

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/03/politics/house-chaplain-pat-conroy-rescinds-resignation/index.html


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
     Thread Starter
 

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