Lawmakers Worried About Religious Freedom After Chaplain Ouster
Emotions are running high in the House as members grapple with Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s decision to fire House Chaplain Patrick J. Conroy. And religious tensions started to spill into public view last week before lawmakers departed Washington for a one-week recess.
“This is ugly,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., said. “There’s only division coming out of this. Not anything positive.”
Democrats and even some Republicans are raising questions about freedom of religion after Ryan requested the resignation of Father Conroy, a Jesuit priest who has served as House chaplain for seven years. Conroy complied, sending the speaker a letter of resignation April 15 that was read on the House floor last week.
“I certainly hope that the speaker of the House didn’t make a decision based on his interpretation of a prayer,” Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., said, noting that a Republican member had told him directly that it did. “That brings up problems … really raises questions about religious freedom.”
North Carolina Republican Rep. Walter Jones also raised concerns about freedom of religion.
Conroy himself told The New York Times Thursday that he is still unclear about the reason Ryan asked for his resignation as he was never given anything in writing. But he pointed to concerns the speaker’s staff raised with him regarding a prayer he delivered November 6 during the the tax overhaul debate.
“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,” Conroy said in the prayer.
About a week later, Conroy said a Ryan staffer communicated that the speaker’s office was upset by the prayer and felt he was getting too political and Ryan later said to him directly, “Padre, you just got to stay out of politics.”
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