House Speaker Paul Ryan accepted Father Patrick Conroy’s decision Thursday to rescind his resignation, allowing him to remain as chaplain of the House.
“It is my job as speaker to do what is best for this body, and I know that this body is not well served by a protracted fight over such an important post. I intend to sit down with Father Conroy early next week so that we can move forward for the good of the whole House,” Ryan said in a statement.
Conroy told Ryan in a letter earlier in the day Thursday that he was walking back his resignation, which was announced last month. Conroy said it was never explained to him why Ryan wanted him out, but he added Ryan’s chief of staff suggested he needed to resign because he is Catholic.
“[Y]our Chief of Staff, Jonathan Burks, came to me and informed me that you were asking for my letter of resignation,” Conroy wrote. “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 a Catholic.'”
Ryan said at the time of his original decision he believed he was making the right choice but had since changed his mind.
“My original decision was made in what I believed to be the best interest of this institution. To be clear, that decision was based on my duty to ensure that the House has the kind of pastoral services that it deserves,” Ryan said.
