WASHINGTON — At least 100 lawmakers have signed a letter demanding answers from Speaker Paul Ryan about his decision to oust the chaplain of the House of Representatives.

The letter, which began circulating Thursday evening and is also signed by at least one Republican, asks Ryan to explain his motivation for seeking the resignation of Rev. Patrick Conroy, the Jesuit priest who had served as House chaplain for the last seven years. The lawmakers plan to send the letter to Ryan Friday.

"The sensitive nature of this situation requires a description of the process followed to arrive at the decision and a justification for that decision," said the letter, spearheaded by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., Walter Jones, R-N.C., Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, and Carol Shea Porter, D-N.H. "We believe that, absent such details, questions will inevitably arise about the politicization of the process for hiring and dismissing a House chaplain. Not revealing such details could also risk resurrecting prior questions of religious bias."

Kaptur said that Ryan didn't have the authority to force out Conroy.

"It is not the speaker's prerogative to terminate an officer of the House without a vote of the House," she told reporters Friday.

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., have been tasked with finding Conroy's replacement, Kaptur added.

On Thursday, Conroy's resignation letter from April 15 surfaced, which made clear that Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, had asked him to resign — a move that's angered Democrats and other supporters of the priest.

"I’m very sorry Father Conroy was forced to resign as a House Chaplain. He is a good man. No explanation and no consultation," tweeted Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., one of the few Muslim lawmakers, on Friday.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., called it a "shameful anti-Catholic move motivated by conservative extremists in Congress."

Conroy, whose last day as chaplain is May 24, said Thursday in an interview with The New York Times that he doesn’t know why he was asked to step aside.

“I was asked to resign, that is clear," Conroy said. Asked why, however, he said, "that is unclear," adding that "Catholic members on both sides are furious."

Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said Thursday, "The speaker consulted with the minority leader, but the decision was his. He remains grateful for Father Conroy's service."

When Ryan gave Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi advance notice about Conroy's departure, she made it clear that she disagreed with the speaker and that she had had only received positive feedback about Conroy's service, a Pelosi aide said.

Conroy has been blunt in some of his remarks, including a prayer about the GOP tax bill that he offered on the House floor on Nov. 6, 2017, before the legislation was passed and signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Conroy told The Times that a week later, someone from the Speaker's office came to see him.

"A staffer came down and said, 'We are upset with this prayer; you are getting too political," he said. "It suggests to me that there are members who have talked to him about being upset with that prayer."

Later, Conroy said, Ryan told him, "Padre, you just got to stay out of politics."