By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 2, 2000; Page A04

Nearly 40 Catholic Republican lawmakers met with their leaders yesterday to express their concern over the deadlocked appointment of the next House chaplain and to urge them to quickly resolve what has become a thorny political dilemma for Republicans.

For the past three months, the House has been embroiled in a dispute over whether anti-Catholic bias played a role in GOP leaders' decision to bypass the Rev. Timothy J. O'Brien, a priest, in favor of the Rev. Charles Parker Wright, a Presbyterian minister. A final House vote on the matter has been held up, as leaders try to quell an uproar by Democrats and outside Catholic groups.

According to Republicans who attended the meeting yesterday with House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.), lawmakers offered a variety of solutions to the impasse and vowed to support Hastert in whatever course he chose.

"In the end the speaker will have to make this call," said Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.), who added that the Democrats had created "a lot of hard feelings" by suggesting Republicans were anti-Catholic.

The speaker, who vigorously defended his decision to appoint Wright in a closed GOP conference before the meeting with Catholic members, did not indicate how he would proceed on the matter. "We listened to what their concerns are," he said.

While Democrats have been attacking Republicans on the issue for weeks, controversy over presidential candidate George W. Bush's appearance at archconservative Bob Jones University, which has promoted anti-Catholic and Mormon teachings, has also roiled the waters.

In a floor speech Tuesday night, Rep. Greg Ganske (R-Iowa) suggested Republicans restart the chaplain selection process and accept a binding recommendation from a new bipartisan panel.

"I know Denny Hastert and Dick Armey personally, and they are not anti-Catholic, but there is no question that this is a mess," Ganske said. "Coupled with the Bob Jones University fiasco, Catholics in my district and around the country are shaking their heads in dismay."

Republicans have promoted several different solutions: Rep. James T. Walsh (R-N.Y.) has suggested the speaker could appoint a new chaplain every Congress, while Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has proposed rotating the appointment between the speaker and the minority leader.