Background
On March 13, 2015, Catholic religion teacher Patricia Jannuzzi was placed on “administrative leave” after she posted some comments on her personal Facebook page defending Catholic teaching on homosexual behavior and criticizing the arguments in favor of same-sex “marriage.”
After a former student saw Jannuzzi’s posts, Hollywood elitists, led by Susan Sarandon, launched a pressure campaign against the school and the diocese, asking to have the award-winning 30-year-veteran Catholic religion teacher and mother of two fired.
Now Jannuzzi’s lawyer has revealed that the school has caved to these demands, and that diocesan lawyers have made clear that there is "no way" Jannuzzi will ever return to the classroom.
Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski of the Diocese of Metuchen has also issued a public statementbacking up the school’s decision, and saying that the Catholic theology teacher’s “comments were disturbing and do not reflect the Church’s teachings of acceptance."
He added that “Pope Francis reminds us that we are to accept all of our brethren. We must ensure that our educators steer away from harsh and judgmental statements that can alienate and divide us.”
However, Jannuzzi’s statements were less forceful than Pope Francis’ own condemnations of same-sex “marriage,” which the pontiff called “a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God" when he was an archbishop during Argentina’s own debate about redefining marriage.
As Pope he has even compared gender theory – the intellectual underpinning of the LGBT movement – to indoctrination by the Hitler Youth.
The Lepanto Institute and LifeSiteNews believe that what is happening to Patricia Jannuzzi is not only an extreme miscarriage of justice, but a dangerous precedent for Catholic professionals everywhere. Catholic educators need to know that their first amendment rights still mean something and that adherence to Catholic moral and theological teaching will be protected by the shepherds of the Church.
The Lepanto Institute and LifeSiteNews propose this petition and encourage all supporters of religious liberty and Catholic teaching to send a strong message supporting Patricia Jannuzzi and Catholic professionals everywhere.
