Wouldn’t you know, it is the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica, co-founders of Benedictine College, who on Thursday issued the definitive response to Harrison Butker’s commencement address there.
The sisters, of course, are among those whose vital contributions to the world, to the church and to the college are not just discounted but erased — poof, gone — in Butker’s view of women who are not wives and mothers: He doesn’t see them at all.
“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?” he asked women graduates. “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. My beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”
I’m not being snide when I say I thought life truly started in the womb; all people at all stages of life and in all walks of life are valued in the Catholic faith, and I see nothing traditional about his implication that only marriage and parenthood confer true worth on women.
Neither do the sisters, whose statement I’m going to quote in its entirety:
“As a founding institution and sponsor of Benedictine College, the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica find it necessary to respond to the controversial remarks of Harrison Butker as commencement speaker.
“The Sisters of Mt. 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. One of our concerns was the assertion that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman. We sisters have dedicated our lives to God and God’s people, including the many women whom we have taught and influenced during the past 160 years. These women have made a tremendous difference in the world in their roles as wives and mothers, and through their God-given talents in leadership, scholarship and their careers.
“Our community has taught young women and men not just how to be ‘homemakers’ in a limited sense, but rather how to make a Gospel-centered, compassionate home within themselves where they can welcome others as Christ, empowering them to be the best versions of themselves.
“We reject a narrow definition of what it means to be Catholic. We are faithful members of the Catholic Church who embrace and promote the values of the Gospel, St. Benedict, and Vatican II and the teachings of Pope Francis.
“We want to be known as an inclusive, welcoming community, embracing Benedictine values that have endured for more than 1500 years and have spread through every continent and nation. We believe those values are the core of Benedictine College.”
Butker owes these women who’ve dedicated their lives to living those values an apology.
Other things the Kansas City Chiefs kicker said were far afield from Catholic teaching, too: “When you embrace tradition,” he said in his address, “success, worldly and spiritual, will follow.” That’s the Prosperity Gospel embraced by some evangelicals but pretty much the exact opposite of what Jesus said about what would happen to those who follow him.
He also told graduates, “Congress just passed a bill where stating something as basic as the biblical teaching of who killed Jesus could land you in jail.”
No, it couldn’t. He’s talking about House Republicans passing a bill that threatens federal funding for colleges that don’t crack down on antisemitic speech, including “claims of Jews killing Jesus.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks that’s basic, but Catholics don’t: The church has long since repudiated those claims, rejecting the idea of collective Jewish guilt for Christ’s crucifixion in 1965. In 2011, Pope Benedict made even more explicit that Jews were not responsible.
On its own terms, Butker’s address went badly awry. If he’s the strong man he said in his speech that he is, he’ll call those sisters and tell them he’s sorry.
This story was originally published May 17, 2024 5:07 AM.
