It appears that Father Patrick Conroy, S.J., Chaplain of the House of Representatives, was fired this past week because in November, during a daily House morning prayer ceremony, he asked that God allow tax reform legislation to benefit the poor as well as the rich. This seems to be unacceptable to Paul Ryan.
It used to be the position of most politicians that the purpose of the U.S. government was to benefit all citizens, not just the rich. There now seems to be a feeling among some politicians (Paul Ryan included) that America’s prosperity depends on the social innovations of the rich, and that it is the purpose of the government not to fairly help all citizens, but to help those who are most able to help themselves.
The result of this policy, or so I gather, is that the Job Creators (note how Godlike the word "creator" is, instead of the old word "employer") will in turn reflect this beneficence to the poor, who otherwise would become addicted to government handouts.
I find this political viewpoint ridiculous, but that is beside the point. The point is that Christianity, going all the way back to the Gospels, has always been about the poor benefiting at least as much from God’s grace as the rich. A quick reading of the Beatitudes (“blessed are the poor in spirit,” “blessed are the meek,” “blessed are they who weep and mourn,” "blessed are they who hunger and thirst”) confirms this.
It is mainline Christian thinking, near Catholic dogma, that the poor and suffering are to be the primary benefactors of the good works of the Church. To expect a Catholic priest to say otherwise is to expect him to commit heresy.
What Fr. Conway said is normal for any priest to say from any pulpit. It is only political if you are of the opinion that God rewards the good with extreme wealth, and curses the poor with suffering because they are lazy.
I don’t know for certain that this is Mr. Ryan’s opinion, but if it is, he is definitely not a Catholic. The Church, for all the problems it has had in recent years, does not need the help of politicians who think it is appropriate to repurpose Church social teaching for personal and political gain.