Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker (left) and Kansas City Chiefs’ punter Tommy Townsend watch the ball during Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 12, 2023. / Credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 28, 2024 / 17:10 pm (CNA).
Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker doubled down on his May 11 Benedictine College commencement speech comments during a Catholic home schooling association’s gala in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday.
“If it wasn’t clear that the timeless Catholic values are hated by many, it is now,” Butker, a three-time Super Bowl champion and the 2019 NFL scoring leader, said during the May 24 Regina Caeli Academy’s Courage Under Fire Gala.
Butker faced some pushback on social media and from commentators and celebrities for comments about gender ideology, gender roles, homosexuality, abortion, and other hot-button issues during the commencement speech.
Much of the criticism was in response to his warning to female graduates about “diabolical lies told to [them].”
“How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career?” Butker said at the commencement. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”
At the gala Friday evening, Butker acknowledged the backlash, saying “many people expressed a shocking level of hate” after his speech. He said, however, that “as days went on, even those who disagreed with my viewpoints shared their support for my freedom of religion.”
“The more I’ve talked about what I value most, which is my Catholic faith, the more polarizing I have become,” he added. “It’s a decision I’ve consciously made and one I do not regret at all. If we have truth and charity, we should trust in the Lord’s providence and let the Holy Ghost do the rest of the work.”
Butker reflected on the persecution faced by many saints and prophets, such as Daniel who was thrown into a lion’s den. Being “disliked” and “mischaracterized by some,” Butker said, are “not so bad.”
“Our love for Jesus and thus our desire to speak out should never be outweighed by the longing of our fallen nature to be loved by the world,” Butker added. “Glorifying God and not ourselves should always remain our motivation despite any pushback or even support. I lean on those closest to me for guidance, but I can never forget that it is not people, but Jesus Christ, who I am trying to please.”
The 28-year-old kicker, who holds the record for most career field goals in Super Bowl games, encouraged the faithful to be “unapologetic of their Catholic faith and never be afraid to speak out for truth, even when it goes against the loudest voices.”
“If heaven is our goal, we should embrace our cross however large or small it may be, and live our life with joy to be a bold witness for Christ,” Butker said.
Although the secular response to Butker’s speech was mostly negative, the response from Catholic figures has been predominantly positive.
Butker’s bishop, James Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, told CNA two weeks ago that he supported the athlete’s “right to share his faith and express his opinions — including those that are critical of bishops.”
President of the Catholic League Bill Donohue said in a statement that the kicker “nailed it” and praised “his courage and his commitment to Catholicism.”
Reactions from within the NFL were mixed. Jonathan Beane, NFL senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, distanced the league from Butker’s comments, saying “his views are not those of the NFL as an organization.”
However, Butker received support from Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and from the wife of the team’s owner, Tavia Hunt, and their daughter, Gracie Hunt.
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CNA Staff, Jul 5, 2020 / 04:23 am (CNA).- A coalition of faith-based organizations is asking Congress to take immediate action to help fund efforts to help fight the coronavirus pandemic overseas.
A young woman holds a pro-life sign during a rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. / Joseph Portolano/CNA
Washington D.C., Jun 25, 2023 / 06:40 am (CNA).
Marking the first anniversary of Roe being overturned, a group of pro-life leaders rallied hundreds to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Saturday with the message that they were united around the fight for full, legal protection for the unborn from the moment of conception in all 50 states.
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, told those gathered on a sunny, hot summer day that while she celebrated the 25 states that have passed strong pro-life laws, “we are in fact living in a divided states of America” where “a person’s location determines if they will survive the abortion gauntlet as we did.”
Hawkins said the country must become “an America where every human being is recognized as the unrepeatable person as they are with equal rights and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed, not because of what state their mother resides in or if they are perceived to be convenient or the circumstances of their conception.”
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, addresses the crowd at a pro-life rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Hawkins told CNA that pro-life leaders are uniting around the belief “that every human being is a human person at conception” and that the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal justice clauses should be equally applied to persons in the womb.
“At a very minimum if you’re running for federal office, you should be able to acknowledge that abortion is a federal issue,” she said. “We want to see every presidential contender join with us to acknowledge what is so clearly written in the Fourteenth Amendment: that all human beings are human persons and deserve equal protection of our laws.”
Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, called the Fourteenth Amendment “one of the most beautiful notes in our national song” and lamented that “when it comes to preborn children we have failed to extend these protections.”
Speaking at a rally in front of of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, called it a “tragic contradiction” that “while our society celebrates advancements in prenatal care and technology, we simultaneously deny personhood and rights, the personhood and rights of these very same children.”. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Rose called it a “tragic contradiction” that “while our society celebrates advancements in prenatal care and technology, we simultaneously deny personhood and rights, the personhood and rights of these very same children. It is inconceivable that we would selectively deny these rights to one group of human beings solely based on their location: the womb.”
Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence, who recently called on his fellow GOP presidential candidates to join him in backing a “minimum” nationwide 15-week abortion limit, made an appearance at the rally.
“As we celebrate this anniversary, let us here resolve that we will work and we will pray as never before to advance the cause of life in the laws of the land in every state in America. That we will support women in crisis pregnancies with resources and support for their care, for the unborn, and for the newborn as never before,” Pence said.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, addresses the crowd at a pro-life rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Joseph Portolano/CNA
“We stand for the babies and their unalienable right to life,” he said, pledging that he and his family “will never rest and never relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in the land.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-life America, shared words of advice for the growing list of 2024 presidential candidates: “Get your act together. Figure out what you’re for and advance it. Don’t wait,” she urged.
“We have consensus in this country,” she added. “Start with that and be the president you’re called to be in justice and love for moms and justice and love for their babies.” Consistent Gallup polling shows that the majority of Americans would prefer to limit abortion to the first three months of pregnancy.
There were many young people in the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial, including Katriel Nyman, a 17-year-old from Washington state who is with Students for Life Tri-Cities. She told CNA that it was “really encouraging to see a bunch of people who believe in rights from conception.”
She said she’d “like to see more pro-lifers continue to persevere through this” post-Dobbs fight because “even if abortion isn’t legal in your state, you should be fighting for the rights of infants that are soon to be born in other states.”
Sameerah Munshi, a recent graduate of Brown University who is interning with the Religious Freedom Institute, holds a sign with a verse from the Quran about the sanctity of life that reads “We have dignified the children of Adam,” at a pro-life rally at the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023. Lauretta Brown/CNA
Sameerah Munshi, a recent graduate of Brown University who is interning with the Religious Freedom Institute, held a sign with a verse from the Quran about the sanctity of life that read “We have dignified the children of Adam.”
She told CNA that she wanted to make her voice heard as a Muslim who believes, based on her faith, that abortion is wrong in most cases. She said many Muslims followers feel, as she does, that life begins “in the first couple weeks after conception.”
Munshi said that in the year since the Dobbs decision, “a lot of people that I know who don’t have strong opinions on abortion have been coming out either in favor or against” abortion. She sees it as valuable that there’s more discourse about the abortion issue and people are “coming to more conclusions for themselves as opposed to maybe rhetoric that they’ve seen in the news or rhetoric that they feel has been a part of their political platform.”
Jessica Newell, a Catholic student who is interning with Live Action and entering her third year at Coastal Carolina University, told CNA that “it’s so important for people who are indoctrinated by this culture to learn the truth about biology and the truth about God and that they’re made in the image of God.”
She emphasized that the pro-life movement still has so much to do and part of that work is “letting people know that they’re loved, that is a big step in changing the culture to a culture of life.”
Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline-infusion abortion at 31 weeks gestation, stands alongside her oldest daughter Olivia, 15, at a pro-life rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline-infusion abortion at 31 weeks gestation, stood at the rally alongside her oldest daughter Olivia, 15, and a sign which read “Babies survive abortions. I am one of them.”
“This was a very personal thing for Roe to be overturned,” she told CNA, “It is a day that we can celebrate, but it has not been a chance to pause, take our breath, it has been a time of continuing to hit the ground running.”
In her work heading the Abortion Survivors Network, Ohden said that since the Dobbs decision she’s heard from “more women than ever reaching out to us after their chemical abortions have failed.” She said it’s important to reach moms who are vulnerable to chemical abortions which make up the majority of abortions in the country.
Ohden said that since Dobbs the pro-life movement “has continued to be the side that is providing resources and support whether it’s in communities, at the state level, pushing for federal policy that supports mothers and children and families in a greater way.”
Her daughter Olivia said it was “amazing” to be at the rally with her mom and called the issue an emotional one because “people like my mom should be protected no matter who they are, where they are.”
Pope Francis baptizes babies in the Sistine Chapel on January 7, 2024. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jan 7, 2024 / 07:30 am (CNA).
Pope Francis baptized babies in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday and encouraged parents not to worry if their childre… […]
4 Comments
He is a ‘conservative’ Catholic, he spoke at the commencement ceremony of a conservative Catholic College, he clearly stated his Catholic values, and so the response is entirely predictable. The amount of pure hate directed his way is, unfortunately, not surprising.
A Catholic man whose thinking is consistent with all that the Catholic Church teaches. Not the “Cafeteria Catholic” that Cardinal Wilton Gregory characterized Biden’s so-called Catholicism.
I certainly don’t disagree with Mr. Butker about the role of women–I had the privilege of staying home with my children until they were older because my husband worked to provide an adequate income and we lived modestly. But…from what I have seen (and I’m 67 years old), it’s hard if not impossible for women to fulfil their roles of wife and mother when men don’t step up and court her and treat her well, marry her (instead of shacking up with her), work very hard (more than one job if necessary) to support her and their children, spend money on “stuff” “that isn’t necessary for a good family life, get involved with/addicted to porn and don’t try to fight the addiction, don’t take an active role in rearing their children, and demand sex at times when the woman is fertile and thus forcing many women to rely on various methods of fertilization prevention (including getting sterilized) to avoid having children that they don’t have the energy, health, or money to raise. To me, it’s not about what WOMEN should be doing–it’s about what MEN should be doing! And it’s also about what PARENTS of boys should be doing to train their boys up to be good men who are capable of lovingly supporting a wife and family.
He is a ‘conservative’ Catholic, he spoke at the commencement ceremony of a conservative Catholic College, he clearly stated his Catholic values, and so the response is entirely predictable. The amount of pure hate directed his way is, unfortunately, not surprising.
I am proud of him and he is in my prayers.
A Catholic man whose thinking is consistent with all that the Catholic Church teaches. Not the “Cafeteria Catholic” that Cardinal Wilton Gregory characterized Biden’s so-called Catholicism.
I certainly don’t disagree with Mr. Butker about the role of women–I had the privilege of staying home with my children until they were older because my husband worked to provide an adequate income and we lived modestly. But…from what I have seen (and I’m 67 years old), it’s hard if not impossible for women to fulfil their roles of wife and mother when men don’t step up and court her and treat her well, marry her (instead of shacking up with her), work very hard (more than one job if necessary) to support her and their children, spend money on “stuff” “that isn’t necessary for a good family life, get involved with/addicted to porn and don’t try to fight the addiction, don’t take an active role in rearing their children, and demand sex at times when the woman is fertile and thus forcing many women to rely on various methods of fertilization prevention (including getting sterilized) to avoid having children that they don’t have the energy, health, or money to raise. To me, it’s not about what WOMEN should be doing–it’s about what MEN should be doing! And it’s also about what PARENTS of boys should be doing to train their boys up to be good men who are capable of lovingly supporting a wife and family.
Mrs. Whitlock above – I question the notion that men are the ones chiefly responsible for the trend of shacking up.