bishop@diometuchen.org
Dear Bishop Bootkoski,
Understanding that you are looking for a good pastoral approach in the matter of the Patricia Jannuzzi controversy, I would be honored if you would consider the following points. I am responding to your official statement as found on your diocesan website.
(1)If you're trying to teach your students, faculty and teachers with respect, why do you fail to even address Patricia Jannuzzi by name?? And why do you fail to quote her actual words, showing where they differ from Catholic teachings? This isn't "respect," it's leaving the person you have crushed by your punitive firing, nameless and voiceless.
(2) "Never wavered" in teaching Catholic doctrines? Can you show is even one instance in which you have actually, comprehensively taught your flock "our traditional Catholic teachings" on the question of homosexuality?
(3) That a teacher's comment is "disturbing" may or may not be relevant. One may "disturb" another by telling the truth, or by telling an untruth. Christ said things which were so disturbing that the religious and social hierarchy of His day wanted to kill Him. Would you want to dispute the truth of anything Patricia Jannuzzi said?
You say she has not upheld the Church's teaching of "acceptance," and yet these are the actual words of the Catechism, para 2357:
| "Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved." |
The Catechism also says that persons with a deep-seated homosexual tendency "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity" and that "Homosexual persons are called to chastity." If Patricia Jannuzzi's comments were blunt, they were not more blunt than Paragraph 2357 of the Catechism.
(4) "She has never been terminated"? This is an untruth. She was put on administrative leave (with pay) until August, and informed that she would not be re-hired in September. That means she is terminated as of September.
(5) There is a difference between accepting "brethren" (ordinary men and women, boys and girls, students who may be struggling with same-sex attraction) and accepting the social and political agenda of LGBT activist groups, the "Gay Lobby."
As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis (Abp. Bergoglio) called on the priests of his Archdiocese to bring the faithful to an upcoming protest against homosexual "marriage."
| "Let's not be naive, we're not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God," wrote Cardinal Bergoglio in a letter sent to the monasteries of Buenos Aires. "We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God." |
Pretty disturbing, isn't it? I'm thinking Bergoglio would be considered unfit to teach in the Catholic schools of the Diocese of Metuchen.
To the clergy of the parishes, Bergoglio requested that all of them read from the pulpits a declaration defending the true definition and understanding of marriage.
| "The Argentinean people will have to confront, in the coming weeks, a situation whose result could gravely injure the family. We are speaking of a bill regarding marriage between people of the same sex," a bill that calls into question "the identity, and the survival of the family: father, mother, and children." |
It's impossible to miss the parallels between Bergoglio's statement, and Mrs. Jannuzzi's comment on Facebook that the Gay movement threatens to “reengineer Western civ[ilization] into a slow extinction...We need healthy families with a mother and a father for the sake of the children and humanity."
(6) Patricia Jannuzzi made no "harsh and judgmental" statements toward any individual gay student or any individual whatsoever. She was speaking of the homosexualist movements, ideologies and social-change groups which are even now coercing acceptance of homosexual acts and the relationships predicated upon those acts, by force of law.
The only report of her speaking to or about an individual, was the following from the New York Daily News. "I left this school after being told in religion class I must live a celibate single life if I had gay ‘feelings,’” wrote Doug Bednarczyk.
Is this wrong? Isn't this the same choice facing every human being, no matter what their orientation: either chaste celibacy, or marriage as defined by Divine and Natural Law?
This should have been an excellent teaching moment. In my opinion, Mrs. Jannuzzi should have been invited to clarify and expand on her thoughts by citing the Catechism and Bergoglio statements quoted above.
Jannuzzi should not have been suspended or terminated. That kind of heavily punitive reaction is entirely disrespectful of her, and consists of silencing, shaming, and exclusion as well as a punishing loss of vocation and income. Such radical exclusion of an excellent teacher with decades of honorable service to the Church and School is cruel and shockingly unjustified.
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By the way, I sent this to Bishop Bootkoski as a paper copy, as well as posted it at the Diocesan website HERE (LINK).
Well said!
You're assuming that the wolf in sheep's clothing that is addressed as “excellency” in the aforementioned diocese is not a homosexual, himself. This is an iffy proposition.
sitetest
Well done, thanks. The Bishop may have too many letter writers that prepare his letters. Or just maybe the Bishop has bought into Gov. Cristie’s mantra - the public is happy when teachers are screwed.
Very nice. Me like.
Thank you.