Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker became a hero for his team Sunday when he hit a game-winning field goal to send the Chiefs to the Super Bowl.
As Butker and his team celebrated on the field, some Catholic NFL fans celebrated on social media. They shared messages of support for the kicker, who is one of the league’s most high-profile Catholics.
One popular tweet featured a picture of Butker on the field for a field-goal attempt alongside a picture of him taking part in Catholic Mass.
“This is the kind of Catholic ‘celebrity’ I can support,” a Twitter user said in response to the images.
Other users pointed out that Butker has not shied away from sharing his faith in interviews, and that he’s actually used his platform to defend the Latin Mass, a traditional form of Catholic worship. Pope Francis and other Catholic leaders have worked to limit access to Latin Mass due to fears that it was sowing division in the church.
“Francis began his crackdown on the pre-Vatican II Mass in 2021, when he re-imposed restrictions on celebrating the rite that had been loosened by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. Francis said then that he had to take action because Benedict’s reform had become a source of division in the church and been exploited by Catholics opposed to Vatican II,” The Associated Press reported in June 2022.
Butker met with Catholic News Agency in February 2022 to speak about how much the Latin Mass means to him and his family.
“My success in football has given me a pedestal and I feel a responsibility to raise awareness to different issues that I think God wants me to bring to the forefront. And the Traditional Latin Mass is definitely one of them,” he said.
In the interview, Butker argued that, rather than tear the Catholic Church apart, the Latin Mass could help secure its future.
“I think we live in confusing times. I think the culture is changing rapidly and the Traditional Latin Mass is so countercultural that I think it really entices a lot of young people who are looking for answers,” he told Catholic News Agency.
Butker has also shared his faith in more subtle ways, such as by pointing to the sky after successful field-goal attempts.
Butker’s comments and actions have led some Chiefs fans to joke (in a lighthearted way) about the power of Catholicism.
“I am a Latin Mass Catholic now,” said one Twitter user after Butker’s game-winning kick on Sunday.