Andrew Taylor, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) " The embattled chaplain of the House of Representatives is seeking to withdraw his resignation in a caustic letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Rev. Patrick Conroy accuses a top Ryan aide of telling him "something like 'maybe it's time that we had a Chaplain that wasn't a Catholic.'"

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican and a Catholic himself, forced Conroy to tender his resignation last month, sparking a firestorm. Ryan has said he was dissatisfied with Conroy's pastoral care to lawmakers.

Conroy says in a two-page letter that he has never "heard a complaint about my ministry" as House chaplain. Instead, Conroy says top Ryan aide Jonathan Burks told him the speaker wanted his resignation, and cited a prayer last year that was potentially critical of the GOP tax bill.