Chicago City Wire

Mass attendees at Queen of Martyrs Church in Chicago recently were met by signs protesting the parish’s firing of Doc Mathius.

“Meet us at Queen of Martyrs Church to demand Doc Mathis be reinstated ASAP! We stand for equitable access to mask-optional education for ALL students across the Chicago Archdiocese,” a flyer announcing the protest read. 

Mathius was removed as principal of the Queen of Martyrs School a week ago after opening the school as mask-optional.

"It’s breaking my heart," he told NBC 5. "I’ve had enough of it. That’s all. It was I just had enough of it and I had to do something in my own way."

Mathius taught and held several administrative positions at Brother Rice High School for 43 years prior to becoming principal at Queen of Martyrs School in 2020.

"I know there are people who are going to try to make a political volleyball out of this, it’s nonsense," he told NBC 5. "It’s way beyond the politics now. It’s the health and safety and the well-being of our kids."

A truck leading the protest displayed a number of messages on its digital billboard, including the following:

"Operation Unite Chicago #StandwithDoc ‘No man left behind’"

"We The People Choose Free Will Say no to tyranny"

"If God is for us, who can be against us Romans 8:31"

"Do NOT conform to the ways of this world Choose Faith over fear"

"Today we unmask our kids! End all illegal Covid mandates immediately!"

Parents and students created and held their own signs as the crowd splayed over the school’s lawn.

"Doc is a hero the bishop is a bully," read one.

Mathius was removed from his post — at least temporarily — after he sent a letter to parents removing masks from the school, prior to the Archdiocese of Chicago’s announcement removing masks in many areas of its jurisdiction.

"I want to express my deepest and my most humble appreciation of the outpouring of love and support from so many of you," Mathius said in the letter. "While it is many times not easy to do what you believe is right, it always makes it easier if it comes from the heart. To that end, my decision was easy, and my course was clear.

"Please keep your eye on the ball as you move forward. I am not the central figure here ... our kids are. This has much less to do with me than it does to what we love best; our kids, our school, and our parish."

After being removed, Mathius spoke on the EP podcast, covering Evergreen Park.

He became emotional when telling an anecdote about not recognizing his students due to their masks.

"I looked at her and didn't know who she was," Mathius said on the podcast. "She put her mask on, and I knew her immediately. I said, 'oh, dear, God.' In addition to everything else I'm hearing and reading, something's got to change."

The move came in the wake of a downstate judge’s ruling noting the unconstitutionality of mandatory masking.

Since then, over half of the state’s school districts have gone mask-optional.

The Archdiocese of Chicago has been unwilling to go against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders regarding masking.

Archdiocese parents, most notably at St. Christina’s school, have been holding daily protests, until normal pre-pandemic school functioning is restored.

Parents should remove their children from the classrooms of Illinois Catholic school officials who are breaching state law by forcing them to wear masks, according to Brian Burch,  the leader of Catholic Vote, one of the nation's major Catholic activist organizations.

Chicago Catholic Schools Superintendent Greg Richmond indicated that allowing students to attend class without a mask is not a good idea as it "would create confusion and disruption in our schools."