Three-time Super Bowl winner Harrison Butker has continued to be outspoken about his Catholic faith. Recently, he delivered the commencement address for Benedictine College, a Catholic liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas. While attempting to unite the roles of “citizens, and yes, Catholics,” Butker turned his address into an attack on President Biden and his administration. His words to the graduating women also ignited widespread social media backlash for what critics say was a misogynistic and defeating message.
“Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally,” Butker said during the speech.
Harrison Butker Spouts a Laundry List of Political Issues During Commencement Speech
Benedictine College President Stephen D. Minnis invited Harrison Butker to deliver the commencement address after Butker gave the address at his alma mater, Georgia Tech.
Many of the college graduates in attendance finished high school in 2020 and experienced a drastically different commencement than expected. Much of the country was locked down due to COVID-19 and many graduation celebrations that year were postponed, attempted online, or even canceled. This college commencement was the first in-person celebration for many graduates.
Butker addressed the graduates who were most affected by COVID-19. “I hope you learned the important lesson that suffering in this life is only temporary,” Butker said. “As a group, you witnessed firsthand how bad leaders who don’t stay in their lane can have a negative impact on society.”
Butker’s commencement speech soon became a platform for him to list everything he felt was wrong with the world—beginning with Biden and the issues his administration supports.
“Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues—things like abortion, IVF [in vitro fertilization], surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder,” he said.
Butker mentioned that his strong, public stance against such things has gained him a reputation and more attention than he’d like. “I never envisioned myself nor wanted to have this sort of a platform, but God has given it to me,” said Butker.
He referred to the film “Silence,” which depicted the life of a Jesuit priest who abandoned the church. In the movie, the former priest is near the end of his life and clutches a crucifix. Bishop Robert Baron reviewed the film and said that “it was exactly what the cultural elite want to see in Christiainity—private, hidden away, and harmless.”
Butker talked about corruption within the Catholic Church and said that the church’s leadership needs to be “rightly ordered.” He then mentioned great saints like St. Damian of Malachi, who served for 11 years in a leper colony in Hawaii. “His heroism is looked at today as something set apart and unique—when, ideally, it should not be unique at all,” said Butker.
Affirming the sound teaching at Benedictine, Butker said that the community shows “the world how an ordered, Christ-centered existence is the recipe for success.” The growth and transformation of the college “didn’t happen by chance, but in a deliberate movement to embrace traditional Catholic values.”
Butker affirmed, “Benedictine has gone from just another liberal arts school with nothing to set it apart to a thriving beacon of light and a reminder to us all that when you embrace tradition, success—worldly and spiritual—will follow.”
He addressed women and men separately in his speech. He challenged men to fight “against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy.”
“I have seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God’s will in their life,” Butker said. “If it glorifies God, maybe you should lean into that over something that you might think suits you better.”
Butker challenged the graduates to embrace history and tradition within the Catholic church and faith. “When you rekindle your knowledge and adherence to many of the church’s greatest traditions, you will see how much more colorful and alive your life can and should be as you move on from this place,” he said.
With nearly 200,000 views, a video of commencement speech has a far greater reach than those in attendance that day.
