WASHINGTON — Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert named a Roman Catholic priest as the new chaplain in the congressional chamber March 23 and called charges of bias in the original selection of a Protestant “slander” and an “unseemly political game.”
After announcing Presbyterian pastor Charles Wright, the original choice of the House of Representatives leadership, had withdrawn, Hastert said in a speech from the floor he was naming Daniel Coughlin, vicar of the Archdiocese of Chicago, as chaplain. Coughlin is the first Catholic selected to the post.
Hastert’s announcement ended a bitter four months in which Catholics outside the chamber and some members of the House, led by Democrats, had accused Hastert, Majority Leader Dick Armey, R.-Texas, and other Republicans of anti-Catholic bias.
In his speech, Hastert refuted those charges, saying at one point, “I can only conclude that those who accuse me of anti-Catholic bigotry either don’t know me or are maliciously seeking political advantage by making these accusations.”
Coughlin has had 40 years of ministerial experience, most recently as a counselor to priests in the archdiocese, Hastert said. He replaces retiring chaplain James Ford, a Lutheran.
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