Lake County Gazette

A mother to three children attending parochial schools in Lake County has noted her disappointment in the Archdiocese of Chicago for following mask mandates instituted by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“We are just trying to have a pro-choice message for freedom in choosing what's best for the kids and our families. And so we kept contacting the archdiocese,” she said.

The mother, whose three children go to Catholic schools in Lake County, requested anonymity due to fear of retribution.

“I am one of many, many families. A group started via social media is starting to meet in person, and those are the goals,” she said.

That group met Thursday in Beverly at Cork and Kerry to talk about proposals to Archdiocese leadership.

According to the group, after the movement began, emails from within the Archdiocese were accidentally leaked mocking the parents for seeking answers to questions on masking and vaccines.

Archdiocese of Chicago schools cost parents an average of just under $7,000 per year with costs escalating for high schools.

“[J]ust sending email after email, after email to the archdiocese asking for some transparency, asking they host some type of town hall meeting or set up some type of board because honestly, I am a former Catholic school student as well,” she said.

The Archdiocese of Chicago is led by Cardinal Blase Cupich who has been an open supporter of  Pritzker's COVID-19 policies.

Cupich recently upped the mask mandate, requiring schoolchildren to wear masks at recess. he later rescinded the order after a growing number of parents complained. 

Despite his rules on schoolchildren, Cupich was notably caught on camera himself entertaining guests at a Christmas party last year without a mask.

In mid 2021 a group of parents said they were ignored over questions about mask-optional and vaccine-optional accommodations at the parochial school.

“They were silent and by silence, we received no response,” one said.

After a parent threatened to withhold donor money from the Archdiocese employees of the school accidentally CCed parents on responses.

“Another message from one of our frequent pen pals!" the parents said they received. "Hang in there Mary. My recommendation is to no longer respond or to simply thank her for the message. The emails are coming heavily to me from many individuals. Hopefully the Task Force will soon address this issue,” John A Glimco, at the time Chief for Governance and Policy for the Archdiocese of Chicago, wrote in response to one of the emails.

Glimco is now Director of Individual Giving and Estate Gift Planning at Augusta College.

The anonymous parent said it does not make sense for the Archdiocese to blindly follow Pritzker’s orders.

“We've been kind of told that we have to follow mandates by the state, but yet we're a private school system,” she said. “... Look at the states around us and look at numbers and saying – why do we have to follow (COVID-19 protocols) and have our kids see our kids suffer?”

The group claims another leaked email was to Cupich himself.

“We have not been responding to these emails and voicemails requesting meetings. This is rather typical of the conflating of multiple issues. I advise and I think Greg R agrees to continue to not respond because of the volume of these,” Justin J Lombardo, Chief Human Resource Officer at the Archdiocese of Chicago, said in the email.

The parent said she was aghast at the lack of care the school’s leaders showed for their concerns and that the decision to ignore parents was questionable.

“It was alarming because they were getting the message, but not responding,” she said.

She is one of several parents whose children attend Archdiocese schools that want to see a number of changes, including parent choice on masks and vaccines, canceling COVID-19 restrictions, creating a parent advisory board for the school, and standing up against executive overreach and discrimination against students who do not use masks or take the vaccines.

“It is not 2020 anymore,” the group said in a statement. “COVID is not dangerous to children, the vulnerable have vaccines to protect themselves, there are therapeutics out there, and other states have little to no protocols, and we are no better off and still have many restrictions.”

WGN reported that Cupich appeared jointly on video with Illinois Director of Public Health Dr. Ngozi Ezike that urged Catholics to get vaccinated.

“Unlike last year, we have been blessed with the means to prevent hospitalizations and deaths,” Cupich said.

According to Pew Research, in September 2021, the majority of Americans opposed compulsory immunization for everyday use of public facilities.

Eighty-eight percent  of those asked said “there’s too much pressure on Americans to get a COVID-19 vaccine.” Another 81% agreed with the assertion “we don’t really know yet if there are serious health risks from COVID-19 vaccines” while 80% felt “public health officials are not telling us everything they know about COVID-19 vaccines.”

According to an Axios/Ipsos poll, 14% of Americans in August 2021 said they will never be vaccinated.