Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs delivered a graduation speech worthy of remembrance. With a last name similar to a Hall of Fame linebacker named Butkus, who played like his name sounded with a reputation for tenacious tackling on the field, Butker in his speech confidently confronted the contamination of evil while applying the refreshing tonic of truth with tender graciousness.

Confronting contamination included the wretched reality of “our own nation… 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… so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that… to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice…”

Butker challenged us all saying that “if we are going to be men and women for this time in history, we need to stop pretending that the ‘Church of Nice’ is a winning proposition. We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice.”

A friend posted on Facebook, “Butker’s speech at Benedictine was ‘controversial’ only if you follow the spirit of the age,” adroitly adding, “Butker did not proclaim the Gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, he did proclaim the truth of a kingdom not of this world.”

Pope Francis, on the other hand, strayed from the truth. On 60 Minutes recently, his measly definition of conservatism was sadly outdone by the falsehood in his claim that “man is fundamentally good.” Instead of standing with St. Augustine, one of the greatest theologians of all time, Francis practically parroted the heresy of the most condemned figure of church history, Pelagius,

Even worse, his “fundamentally good” claim about man undercut the Bible. The Scripture says, “The heart is desperately and deceitful above all things. Who can know it?” Even my atheist friend Norm Carlson agrees with that verse! Does the pope? If man is fundamentally good, it rips at the absolute necessity of being saved by grace alone in Christ alone through faith alone to the glory of God alone.

Was the world up arms over the pope or Butker? Has a petition topping 180, 000 signatures been sent to the Vatican or the Kansas City Chiefs demanding a firing and replacement? Still, the hottest merchandise selling from the NFL right now is Butker’s jersey.

There’s yet a third Catholic in the mix. At Morehead College, an all black male school, Joe Biden addressed the graduates. Unlike Butker who inspired his audience to aspire to the wholesome ideals of life, Biden’s “campaign” speech of grievance politics stoked envy, anger and victim-hood demagoguing the time with mischaracterizations about our nation. Writer and broadcaster Esther Krakue, who is black, labeled his speech as “completely shambolic,” stating further, “You don’t really want to be told, after spending all that money [for college], the country that you’re hoping to succeed in is against you.”

Out of the three Catholics, Butker looked like the true representative of the Church of Rome; Francis appeared like the Pope of the Church of Nice and Biden, a gaffe-o-matic malcontent from the Woke Church of the Mad Cow.

The Rev. Mel McGinnis is a Frewsburg resident.