Speaker Paul Ryan, who has tended his recalcitrant flock in the House with a generally deft hand, stumbled last week on a trivial matter: the status of the House chaplain, a fractious Jesuit named Rev. Patrick Conroy. Six months short of his own withdrawal from Congress, Speaker Ryan suggested to Father Conroy that he quit his seven-year tenure as chaplain before he was shoved aside, and Conroy duly announced his resignation.

It is not entirely clear what prompted Ryan to act. Conroy seems to have raised eyebrows in certain quarters of the House with opening prayers that strayed from bipartisanship, and there are stories of complaints about his pastoral inattention to some members. Still, Conroy’s behavior during resignation week suggests that rumors of ill-temper and high self-regard are not misplaced. Having submitted his resignation to Ryan, he promptly withdrew it—and Ryan, no doubt seeking to minimize damage, agreed.