Butker Mania And a Church Starving for Courage

The story of Harrison Butker and his speech to the graduates of Benedictine College has taken the country and the culture by storm. It seems, everyone, everywhere, has a strong opinion about what he had to say and how he said it.

On one end of the spectrum, there is a petition with over 250,000 signatures calling for the Kansas City Chiefs to cut the Pro Bowl kicker on the grounds of misogyny, hate speech, and discrimination. On the other end, so many people purchased a Butker jersey (in a show of support for him) that he is now listed among the top jersey leaders in the entire country.

As a student of the human person, when anything produces a visceral reaction among so many people all at one time, it sparks my curiosity. It tells me that I need to pay attention and seek to understand what might be happening in the hearts and minds of people across the country.

Given the widespread nature of the objections and celebrations of his speech, there is a lot to unpack, much of which requires time and reflection. But, in the early stages of examining this storyline, there is a trend Catholics who are in support of Butker and who defend him in the public sphere that seems obvious and worth articulating now.

God’s faithful are starving for authentic, public, courageous leadership.

And it makes sense with even a brief look at the context leading up to his speech.

Catholics watched in great confusion and hurt over the U.S. Bishops posing no opposition during COVID to the shutting down of Churches and the barring of access to the sacraments. Mass was a “non-essential” while liquor stores remained open and essential. In other words, lawmakers were afraid of the backlash they would face at taking away peoples booze but had no fear of taking away access to God. They knew that the Bishops were divided and unlikely to put up any kind of fight (and they were right).

On a smaller scale, faithful across the country have watched in bitter disappointment as clergy and Church authorities alike exhibit little to no leadership capabilities or qualities. How long are the lay faithful supposed to quietly endure mediocre parishes, fledgling schools, disorganized dioceses, boring masses, and irrelevant homilies? Generation after generation of young people become less and less interested in the faith yet the majority of parishes and dioceses across the country refuse to change, innovate or grow.

We’re coming up on another election season featuring so called leaders who somehow earn their parties nomination or re-election, not because they are the best option, but because they are the lesser of two evils.

Culturally, to follow Church teaching and to do so publicly is to a T is to risk being called a bigot, sexist, anti-science, hate-speaking danger to society who needs to be silenced.

And, of course, this is nothing to say of the long modern history of the Church condoning illicit sexual behavior and the abuse of children. From the perspective of this father, at least, it seems as if the entire ordeal could have ben avoided had there been one courageous leader (just one!) willing to confront the problem, expose the evil, and go to untold lengths to root it out of the Church.

All of this, among other events and experiences, have resulted in a group of faithful Catholics bubbling with frustration and desperate for leadership.

As I have done my best to listen to those who support Butker and rage against any form of criticism against the substance of his words, I have discovered a group of people far more inspired by the example of a man courageously speaking his unfiltered believes than by what he actually said.

People are starving for a public figure willing to call out the Bishops and priests across America for their lack of leadership and affirming the inclination of many to abandon their local parish in search of a vibrant, authentically Catholic one.

People were sick of feeling like they need to be silent about certain beliefs they had for fear of the cultural repercussions. Then, to have someone with as much to lose financially and publicly as Harrison Butker to say them ALL OUT LOUD, unapologetically, was profoundly inspiring.

And people were willing to give a man a standing ovation who acted courageously, holding nothing back, regardless of whether they agreed with what he said or how he said it.

The reality is, not every Priest and Bishop deserved what Butker said. The way he described femininity and the call to motherhood was incomplete. And the Latin Mass is not the only path to a holy life. But in another sense, for many, all of that pales in comparison to the prophet-like courage Butker displayed in his speech.

To me, the lesson in all of this, in particular to priests and Church leaders, is, start acting boldly.

There are a whole host of faithful Catholics who possess a lot of grace for imperfect leaders who are authentic, publicly courageous, and willing to hold the faithful accountable to a high standard of living (through words and deeds) regardless of the personal or professional cost to them.

Will you get some pushback? Sure.

But it will be nothing compared to the tidal wave of support or the sheer number of starving souls who will flock to your parish, your school, and your diocese seeking to quench their thirst.