Immaculata HS teacher reinstated after anti-gay Facebook post

SOMERVILLE, N.J. (AP) — A Catholic school teacher suspended after she wrote in a Facebook post that gays "want to reengineer western civ into slow extinction" has been reinstated.

Patricia Jannuzzi was put on administrative leave last month and was asked to disable her Facebook page when her comments drew wide publicity, in part after a school alumnus wrote a critical letter that was shared online by "Thelma & Louise" star Susan Sarandon, who's his aunt.

One of Jannuzzi's posts compared a lesbian relationship to news of Egyptian men being beheaded.

A letter was sent Friday to faculty and staff members at Immaculata High School in Somerville saying Jannuzzi had been reinstated, Gannett New Jersey reported. Monsignor Seamus Brennan, pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, said in the letter that Catholic teachers should communicate the faith in "a way that is positive and never hurtful."

"Tone and choice of words matter and I trust Mrs. Jannuzzi's stated promise to strive always to teach in a spirit of truth and charity," Brennan wrote.

He cited Jannuzzi's "otherwise good reputation as an educator over 30 years at Immaculata" as a factor.

Jannuzzi's lawyer David Oakley said she was "grateful to the school for engaging in the process."

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.