Speaker Ryan Ousts House Chaplain For Unknown Reasons

UNITED STATES - APRIL 11: Rev. Patrick Conroy, Chaplain of the House, attends the 2013 National Days of Remembrance ceremony in the Capitol rotunda to honor the victims of the Holocaust. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
UNITED STATES - APRIL 11: Rev. Patrick Conroy, Chaplain of the House, attends the 2013 National Days of Remembrance ceremony in the Capitol rotunda to honor the victims of the Holocaust. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
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House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) dismissal of House Chaplain Rev. Patrick Conroy earlier this month has stirred up outrage and wide-ranging speculation, according to a Thursday afternoon Washington Post report.

In Ryan’s original press release, the ouster was painted as a voluntary resignation; only in recent days have details fully emerged confirming that it was a firing, according to the Washington Post.

A letter from a bipartisan group of lawmakers is reportedly circulating currently, collecting signatures to request more information from Ryan about the dismissal.

According to the Hill, unnamed sources are guessing that Ryan fired Conroy over as wide a range of issues as voicing disquiet with the GOP tax bill through a prayer to inviting a Muslim to deliver one day’s opening invocation.

Conroy has been the House chaplain since 2011 and, as a Jesuit, is only the second Catholic ever to hold the post.

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Notable Replies

  1. Rumor has it Jesuits are not fans of zombies or granny-starving.

  2. Right. By definition, Jesuits are social justice warriors, advocates of tolerance and unafraid to speak truth to power. OF COURSE he got cashiered from the GOP Congress…

  3. Demonstrating that the zombie-eyed granny starver is capable of decisive action, provided only that the action is meaningless.

  4. “Speaker Ryan Ousts House Chaplain For Unknown Reasons.”

    Probably caught him comforting the afflicted, feeding the hungry, caring for the poor…

    Something totally crazy like that.

  5. There should not even be a House Chaplain.

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