Chicago City Wire

The Archdiocese of Chicago has left some parents upset with its COVID-19 procedures.

Keith Walisiak, a parent to three — two of whom attend St. Christina School on Chicago’s south side — said he was discouraged when he found out the Archdiocese was receiving federal money in exchange for keeping students masked.

Walisiak was born and raised on the south side and went to Catholic schools St. Nicholas of Tolentine and St. Laurence. He said he has been committed to the Catholic community. 

The revelation came after months of struggling with the school over medical exemptions for his son, who has a neurological condition. The school ultimately denied his son’s mask exemption. He said despite sharing all of his son’s private medical information with the school, the Archdiocese overrode the neurologist’s decision on his son’s health.

“I even hired an attorney,” he told Chicago City Wire.

Walisiak said he did not understand the ruling at first and kept digging.

The federal government has incentivized schools throughout the country, through extra funding, to mandate masks, NPR reported, even when local laws are against the practice. Schools have also been warned by insurance providers that they may pull coverage unless schools follow public mandates, according to Education Week.

Walisiak said the revelation that the Archdiocese’s masking conviction was tied to money rather than what is right for students — or even what makes sense scientifically — was something he knew he and other parents would not be able to overcome.

“Parents can realize that eventually it doesn't matter what your situation is, they're not going to buckle on this, and there's going to be nowhere for you to put your voice,” he said.

He said the message was clear when the school told him to consider sending his children elsewhere. 

Walisiak said the academic literature is very clear on masks.

“Masks, in particular cloth masks, do not work at all. CDC also admits this by their shifting to N-95 which still does nothing to prevent spread,” he said.  

Walisiak was stark in his assessment of the Archdiocese’s insistence on continuing COVID-19 protocols for schoolchildren. “God has been pushed aside, Free will has no place in the Archdiocese. Draconian politicians through fear have tried to strip away our unalienable rights,” he said.

One recent study conducted during the pandemic but that has not been peer reviewed and as such, according to the site, should not yet be used to guide medical practice, found medical masks had no protective effect against COVID-19 infection in a randomized controlled experiment of Danish volunteers.

A University of Illinois at Chicago study found that "cloth masks and face coverings are likely to have limited impact on lowering COVID-19 transmission, because they have minimal ability to prevent the emission of small particles ... and offer limited personal protection with respect to small particle inhalation.”

Walisiak also fears the mental and emotional strain on children in the Archdiocese’s schools.

“The psychological damage this has done must be addressed by ending ALL mandates immediately," he said. "Teachers and students have to get back to normal life. Communities will have to begin working together to conquer the fear that has taken ahold of their lives."

Data points to a stark picture showing schoolchildren have been negatively impacted over the lifetime of the pandemic.  

According to Pew, suspected suicide attempts by schoolchildren registered by emergency rooms increased 31% in 2020. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association declared the mental health of the nation’s children a national emergency.

In a commonly cited 1986 study, researchers found younger children need to see the faces of their peers and adults in order to properly understand facial cues. The study reads in part, “[t]he human face provides important cues for recognition of both individuals and emotions.”

The Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, is known for his open support for Gov. J.B. Pritzker's COVID-19 policies. Cupich recently changed mask requirements by requiring students to wear masks at recess before later revoking it.

Cupich entertained guests while maskless at a Catholic Charities Christmas party last year, despite his regulations on schoolchildren. 

"Where's our free will as Catholics?” Walisiak asked.