Chaplain didn’t have a prayer

House Democrats say cleric fired for politics

Washington — Irate Democrats erupted Friday over House Speaker Paul Ryan’s move to oust the House chaplain, saying Ryan hasn’t offered any explanation and charging that Rev. Patrick Conroy’s political leanings contributed to his dismissal.

Ryan told Republican lawmakers in a closed-door meeting that he forced Conroy out because he wasn’t doing a very good job tending to the pastoral needs of lawmakers and that lawmakers had brought concerns to him.

But Ryan’s office won’t say why Conroy was asked to resign and he hasn’t told rank-and-file Democrats why. It would be the first forced ouster of a chaplain in the history of the House.

“He had a number of complaints that the chaplain was not meeting the pastoral needs of the members in general,” said Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo.

While Ryan has the support of most of the chamber’s Republicans, many Democrats are upset about Conroy’s ouster and say politics may be behind it.

Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California said on Twitter “Father Conroy’s abrupt & unjust dismissal is hard to understand & impossible to support. In all his years of service, I’ve never received a complaint from our Members about him pastoring to the needs of the House.”

Ryan consulted with Pelosi before making the move.

Democrats — and Conroy himself — have cited a prayer he offered last fall that called for fairness as the House debated tax cuts as a reason for GOP discontent with his performance.

Last November, Conroy prayed for lawmakers to make sure that “there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans.”