he controversy over a new chaplain for the U.S.House of Representatives took a bizarre twist yesterday as Republican legislators pushed through a resolution honoring the Roman Catholic school system.

   "One could ask, why is this being done?" said Rep. Jerry Kleczka (D-Wis.) "We have had Catholic School Week celebrated in this country for years and years. I hope that same level of pro-Catholicism exists when the House later this month has before it the appointment of a chaplain."

   One reason for the resolution may be the flap which has erupted over selecting a suitable nominee for the congressional chaplaincy, which is supported by $138,000 annually in taxpayer revenue. Last December, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) announced the appointment of Rev. Charles Parker Wright, a Presbyterian, to the post. Wright was supposedly chosen from a list of three finalists under consideration by an 18-member selection committee equally divided between Republicans and Democrats.

   Others on the list included Rev. Robert Dvorak of the Evangelical Covenant Church, and Rev. Timothy J. O'Brien, a Roman Catholic priest and professor of political science from Marquette University.

   House Demos charged that the GOP, by ignoring a Roman Catholic, was attempting to placate the mostly fundamentalist and Protestant evangelical religious right. Indeed, the House of Representatives has never had a Catholic chaplain, and only one Roman Catholic has served as the U.S. Senate Chaplain.

   Father O'Brien jumped directly into the fray, going public and declaring that he would have been acceptable to the GOP had he been "of any mainline Protestant denomination."

   "I hope and pray that the 1960 presidential election did away with the idea of Catholics as not being fully Americans," O'Brien told the Washington post. "I'm not convinced that the prejudicial view is gone, but I do believe that if I were not a Catholic priest I would be the House chaplain."

   With Congress now back in session, representatives have been taking heat from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. League president William Donahue has charged that there is an "anti-Catholic bias" in the choice of Rev. Wright.

   "It has a stink to it," Donahue told Associated Press yesterday. "What they want to do is keep the chaplain post in Protestant hands. There is a residue of anti-Catholicism embedded in the evangelical community. It shows up more often than some people want to admit."

   Already, pundits are speculating about House Resolution 409, and its sudden introduction onto the congressional floor. Titled "Honoring the contributions of Catholic schools," the measure has been introduced by Reps. Schaffer, Roemer, Tancredo, Hoekstra, Lahood, McIntosh, Baker, Chabot and King. It reads:

"Whereas America's Catholic schools are internationally acclaimed for their academic excellence, but provide students more than a superior scholastic education;

"Whereas Catholic schools ensure a broad, values-added education emphasizing the lifelong development of moral, intellectual, physical and social values in America's young people;

"Whereas the total Catholic school student enrollment for the 1998-1999 academic year was 2,646,844, the total number of Catholic schools is 8,217, and the student-teacher ratio is less than 17 to 1;

"Whereas Catholic schools provide more than $17,200,000,000 a year in savings to the Nation based on the average public school per pupil cost;

"Whereas Catholic schools teach a diverse group of students and over 25 percent of school children enrolled in Catholic schools are minorities;

"Whereas the graduation rate of Catholic school students is 95 percent, only 3 percent of Catholic high school students drop out of school, and 83 percent of Catholic high school graduates go on to college;

"Whereas Catholic schools produce students strongly dedicated to their faith, values, families, and communities by providing an intellectually stimulating environment rich in spiritual, character and moral development and;

"Whereas in the 1972 pastoral message concerning Catholic education, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops stated, 'Education is one of the most important ways by which the Church fulfills its commitment to the dignity of the person and building of community. Community is central to education ministry, both as a necessary condition and an ardently desired goal. The educational efforts of the Church, therefore, must be directed to forming persons-in-community; for the education of the individual Christian is important not only to his solitary destiny, but also the destinies of the many communities in which he lives'; Now, therefore be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives --

(1) supports the coals of Catholic Schools Week, an event sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association and the United States Catholic Conference and established to recognize the vital contributions of America's thousands of Catholic elementary and secondary schools; and

(2) congratulates Catholic schools, students, parents, and teachers across the Nation for their ongoing contributions to education, and for the key role they play in promoting and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for this Nation."

   One reason is the charge of anti-Catholicism, which is worrying hill Republicans -- especially in an election year.

   John Feehery, a spokesman for Speaker Hastert, told reporters, "There's a realizing that the swing vote is the Catholic vote. We are concerned that some people might try to politicize the office of the chaplain in order to gain a partisan advantage."

   Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas) also tried to defuse the charges of being anti-Catholic in selecting yet another Protestant for House Chaplain.

   "There are some people who think they've got a hot political issue and they're going to press that point," Armey told reporters yesterday.

   And Rev. Charles Parker Wright is busy schmoozing with representatives. Associated Press noted that the prospective House Chaplain "has spent the last week meeting with lawmakers in hopes of gaining support." Rep. Tony Hall (D-Ohio) made an "unusual" appearance before a House GOP Conference last week to promote Wright's candidacy, and Rev. Wright has also been invited to a GOP "retreat" this weekend.

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