Harrison Butker, the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, delivered the commencement address at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, May 11, 2024. His speech has been deemed highly controversial in the media that later caused a public statement to be issued by the NFL.
Benedictine College is a private Catholic College, and Harrison Butker is a conservative Catholic. In his speech, he scolded President Biden for claiming to be a devout Catholic while supporting an abortion rally and making the sign of the cross.
Butker stated, “He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.”
Butker went on to reprimand our country’s leaders for supporting bad policies like abortion, In Vitro Fertilization, surrogacy, euthanasia, and degenerate cultural values. Butker stated that policies such as COVID lockdowns to push dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America were all led by politicians that claim to be Catholic. He reminds the audience that simply being Catholic alone doesn’t cut it.
The audience was told that it is their duty and privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic. Butker urged them to stop being a coward and not go along with policies they disagreed with to be politically correct.
Butker expressed that during the pandemic many bishops were not leaders because they were motivated by fear of being sued or disliked. Sacraments were not given to dying patients and countless people died alone. Butker felt this showed the Catholic church brought into inappropriate policies that relayed to the public the sacraments do not matter, and Catholics can never let that happen again.
Catholic bishops were reminded that they are not politicians but shepherds that need to stop trying to fit into the world and stay in their land and lead. Butker felt that Benedictine College could provide a concrete example for people to look to stand up for traditional Catholic values and show the world how an ordered, Christ-centered existence is the recipe for success.
If Benedictine College stood up for their values and led by example, they would be met by God-centered pride and cooperating with the Holy Ghost to glorify him versus the deadly sin sort of pride that a whole month has been dedicated to by our country’s leaders, per Butker. He told the audience that with a complete surrender of self and turning towards Christ, they would find true happiness and peace in this life.
Butker then directed comments to the ladies in the graduating class that he stated have had diabolical lies told to them. He stated that many women should be proud of their college achievements in this point of their lives and were probably looking forward to future promotions and titles they would get in their career. Yet, Butker venture to guess that the majority of women were more excited about their future marriages and children they would bring into the world.
Butker shared that his own wife, Isabelle, stated that her life truly started when she began her vocation as a full time wife and mother. He said that he became the man he was today and reached his level of success by his wife leaning into that vocation. Butker mentioned that he was blessed with talents but all his success could not have been possible without his wife converting to the faith, becoming his wife, and embracing one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.
Butker then directed his comments to the men in the graduating class and encouraged them to be unapologetically masculine and to fight against cultural emasculation of men. He told them to never settle for what is easy and to always glorify God.
As the graduating class went out into the world, Butker encouraged them to find their nearest parish and surround yourselves with people that will continuously push you to be the best version of yourself. He told them not to date people that were not of their faith, because how can that person help you become a saint?
Overall, Butker told them to never be afraid to profess the one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, for this is the Church that Jesus Christ established through which we receive sanctifying grace. He told the graduates that they are moving into a post-God world, but with God by their side and constant striving for virtue, they too can be a saint.
As remarks from this controversial speech spread into the media, it has been met with angry reactions across the country.
The NFL issued a statement trying to distance themselves from the controversial speech stating, “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
GLAAD also issued a statement calling Butker’s speech “a clear miss” and “woefully out of step with Americans about Pride, LGBTQ people and women.”
Justice Horn, the former chair of Kansas City’s LGBTQ Commission, was more critical, writing on X that “Harrison Butker doesn’t represent Kansas City nor has he ever.” He called the city one that “welcomes, affirms and embraces our LGBTQ+ community members.”
Also, judging from the hundreds and thousands of critical comments on Butker’s speech being shared across social media, his remarks did not sit well with many women.
The sisters of Mount St. Scholastica monastery, a founding institution and sponsor of Benedictine College stated, “The sisters of Mount St. Scholastica do not believe that Harrison Butker’s comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested. Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division.”
Journalists on most major news channels have rebuked the highly controversial and divisive statements that were shared in Harrison Butker’s speech. The majority of the support Butker has received has been from fellow Catholics with similar views or Christian conservative media personalities.
The backlash noted across the media shows that Butker’s commencement speech was very divisive on topics including gender roles, LBGTQ+, abortion, IVF, surrogacy, and Catholic values. The controversy could be viewed as overshadowing the celebratory occasion for the Benedictine College graduates.
