Ryan meets with House chaplain he ousted, then reinstated

Ryan meets with House chaplain he ousted, then reinstated
Rev. Patrick Conroy, chaplain of the House of Representatives, waits to speak at memorial service for U.S. Capitol Police officers who lost their lives in the line on duty, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 8, 2018. House Speaker Paul Ryan has met with the House chaplain he ousted last month, then reinstated after the chaplain said a Ryan aide told him it might be time to put a non-Catholic in the job. Ryan told reporters he and the Rev. Patrick Conroy talked about how to improve pastoral services over coffee Tuesday. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan has met with the House chaplain he ousted last month, then reinstated after the chaplain said a Ryan aide told him it might be time to put a non-Catholic in the job.

Ryan told reporters he and the Rev. Patrick Conroy talked about how to improve pastoral services over coffee Tuesday.

Just last month Ryan instructed top aide Jonathan Burks to demand Conroy’s resignation, saying he was dissatisfied with Conroy’s pastoral services.

Conroy said he wasn’t told of deficiencies in his performance. He sent a scalding letter to Ryan alleging Burks told him “maybe it’s time that we had a Chaplain that wasn’t a Catholic.” Conroy is a Roman Catholic priest from the Jesuit order.

Burks denied the allegation, but Ryan reversed course and reinstated Conroy.