The Kicker meets the Pope: Harrison Butker evokes Saint Pope John Paul II with his commencement speech at Benedictine College…and people are BIG mad.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Saint Pope John Paul II. How often he would exhort his flock: "Do not be afraid...Open wide the doors to Christ." I miss him. I miss his holy boldness. This week has been interesting. Catholics, even Catholics I love and respect, have taken issue with Harrison Butker speech at Benedictine College.

If you have just landed here from outer space, you may not have heard about Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s commencement speech. And depending on the social media holes you like to rabbit down; you may have thought Butker’s address to the 2024 graduating class at Benedictine focused entirely on women and the roles they should or shouldn’t play in society. It didn’t. But by the reactions some have had, including some “spouses of Christ,” who would probably argue with their spouse that He can get His own dinner, you’d think that was Butker’s sole point. It wasn’t.

The Sunday homily at my parish tackled the fallout. Father said, "…we need to be bold... everyone is talking about what the Church says... and we need to be bold in proclaiming her truths."

The truth is, in his encyclical Familiaris Consortio, on the role of Christian families in the modern world, then Pope John Paul II wrote:

"While it must be recognized that women have the same right as men to perform various public functions, society must be structured in such a way that wives and mothers are not in practice compelled to work outside the home, and that their families can live and prosper in a dignified way even when they themselves devote their full time to their own family.

Furthermore, the mentality which honors women more for their work outside the home than for their work within the family must be overcome. This requires that men should truly esteem and love women with total respect for their personal dignity, and that society should create and develop conditions favoring work in the home."

42 years later, Harrison Butker dared to say essentially the same thing, and out himself as a faithful catholic who walks his talk:

"For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you…

I'm beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker"

As the world grapples with a shifting cultural landscape, marked by the erosion of Judeo-Christian values, Butker's message resonates powerfully, as he underscores the intrinsic worth and irreplaceable contribution of women, particularly in their vocation as wives and mothers. Drawing from his personal experience and the wisdom of the Church, Butker challenges the prevailing narrative that seeks to diminish the value of traditional feminine roles.

Despite what knee-jerk opinions feminists, including those who have taken religious vows, might have, Butker is not taking us back to the 1950’s...[h]e is harkening back to 1981...

Butker's words are a clarion call to the graduates of both genders, urging them to embrace their God-given femininity or masculinity. He did not spare the men in reminding them they too have responsibilities they need to step into.

"To the gentlemen here today: Part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in.

Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy."

Again, turning to Saint Pope John Paull II in Familiaris Consortio:

"Within the conjugal and family communion-community, the man is called upon to live his gift and role as husband and father.

Above all where social and cultural conditions so easily encourage a father to be less concerned with his family or at any rate less involved in the work of education, efforts must be made to restore socially the conviction that the place and task of the father in and for the family is of unique and irreplaceable importance. As experience teaches, the absence of a father causes psychological and moral imbalance and notable difficulties in family relationships…"

I think the Chief’s kicker hit a touchdown.

Of course, since the Pope wrote this encyclical, we now have 42 years of declining birth rates, a surge in fatherlessness, and gender confusion to show us how desperately we need to listen to the Church. Despite what knee-jerk opinions feminists, including those who have taken religious vows, might have, Butker is not taking us back to the 1950’s.

He is harkening back to 1981 with Saint Pope John Paul’s Familiaris Consortio, 1988’s On the Dignity and Vocation of Women, and 1995’s Letter to Women. Man, I miss John Paul. I think he would have liked Butker. And, maybe…maybe…the Chiefs. Maybe.