The U.S. S.J. Is Back

So it turns out that Father Patrick Conroy of the Society of Jesus was forced to resign his position as U.S. House chaplain because some Republicans wanted an evangelical Protestant his place, and some of them found Father Conroy to be too liberal (because Jesuits care too much about the poor!).

Well, Father Conroy is back.

Father Conroy rescinded his resignation. Borrowing a page from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who refuses to be intimidated while overseeing the Mueller investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, Father Conroy chose to stand his ground and not let himself be pushed around because of politics.  House Speaker Paul Ryan did something normally associated with Democrats - he caved - and let Father Conroy have his job back.

Catholics will remember this slight from the Republicans.  And Catholics will make damn sure the Republicans pay dearly in the November elections.

I can think of one Catholic who's ready to do just that.   

Did I happen to mention that Martin O'Malley was educated by Jesuits? :-O :-D

I'm Backin' the U.S. S.J.

Father Patrick Conroy, Society of Jesus (S.J.) - not to be confused with Pat Conroy, the recently deceased novelist - lost his job as chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives (he was either fired or forced to resign) because House Speaker Paul Ryan said the Jesuit Catholic priest wasn't meeting the spiritual needs of many House members.

Like the need to have supply-side economics sanctified as a force of good.

At the time of the House vote on the GOP tax reform bill that is now unfortunately law, Father Conroy apparently said a prayer for the poor who would inevitably be hurt by the law.  Speaker Ryan, himself a Catholic, said that the prayer had nothing to do with Father Conroy's departure, though Father Conroy has insinuated otherwise, and that many Protestant House Republicans felt he wasn't good at meeting the pastoral needs of their respective denominations.   While House Democrats - Catholic and otherwise - aren't buying this, many Catholic House Republicans aren't buying it either.  One such Republican, Peter King of New York, told The Hill that he regularly consulted with Father Conroy and had never heard complaints about him from anyone.

As if Catholics didn't get enough flak in Washington - remember those DNC e-mails? - Protestant House Republicans expressed a desire for a chaplain who had family of his or her own, eliminating Catholic clergy from consideration from the job for obvious reasons.  (Conroy is only the second Catholic priest to hold the position of House chaplain.)  And if that weren't enough, some House members criticized Conroy for not doing enough to console the after the 2017 shooting at a GOP baseball team practice session.  This is a charge even Texas Republican House member Joe Barton finds preposterous, saying his own interactions with Father Conroy after the shooting were positive.. 

I'm standing with Father Conroy.  Part of the role of a chplain is to be an honest broker, and he or she shouldn't be afraid to stand on principle. Also, military and government chaplains are expected to handle all faiths and not be partial to one or the other.  Jesuits happen to be skilled in ecumenicalism.

If non-Catholic Republicans are uncomfortable with a Jesuit priest pastoring to them, maybe they ought to think twice before they go back to tearing down that wall between church and state.