http://thehill.com/homenews/house/386117-house-chaplain-rescinds-resignation
House Chaplain Patrick Conroy has retracted his resignation from the post, arguing he did nothing to deserve being pushed out last month by the office of 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 Thursday.
“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 reelected to the position by the membership of the House.”
In the remarkable 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.
Conroy said Burks gave no specific cause, but suggested it was time for a non-Catholic to fill the chaplain post.
“I inquired as to whether or not it was ‘for cause,’ and Mr. Burks mentioned dismissively something like ‘maybe it’s time that we had a Chaplain that wasn’t Catholic,’” Conroy wrote.
