Francis X. Maier
Senior Fellow
Francis X. Maier is a Senior Fellow in the Catholic Studies Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Mr. Maier’s work focuses on the intersection of Christian faith, culture, and public life, with special attention to lay formation and action.
Francis X. Maier is a Senior Fellow in the Catholic Studies Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Mr. Maier’s work focuses on the intersection of Christian faith, culture, and public life, with special attention to lay formation and action.
Mr. Maier served as senior adviser and special assistant to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., for 23 years in Denver and Philadelphia. He previously served as editor in chief of the National Catholic Register and as a story analyst and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and New York University’s School of the Arts, he is a former Fellow of the American Film Institute’s Conservatory for Advanced Film Studies, and the inaugural Senior Research Fellow (2020–22) at Notre Dame’s Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government. He is a cofounding board member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Collegium Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture and a board member of the Napa Institute and the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS).
His bylined work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, First Things, National Review, The American Spectator, The Catholic Thing, Crisis, This World, America, Commonweal, the New York Times Sunday magazine, Christian Science Monitor, and other national and foreign outlets. His book True Confessions: Voices of Faith from a Life in the Church, was released by Ignatius Press in early 2024.
A Pilgrim’s Guide to Sodom
Francis X. Maier
This is a column about Betty and Les Ruppersberger. To the eye, they look like any other ordinary married couple. …
Articles
The Catholic Thing / February 28, 2025
Revisiting Pope Francis’ Presidential Rebuke
Francis X. Maier
His concerns could have been communicated confidentially, and much more fruitfully, to the U.S. bishops and the Trump administration.
Articles
Wall Street Journal / February 20, 2025
AI and Chatting with Your Future Self
Francis X. Maier
Earlier this month, in its regular Artificial Intelligence section, the Wall Street Journal ran a 2,000-word feature – for a newspaper, that’s serious ink –…
Articles, Artificial Intelligence
The Catholic Thing / February 12, 2025
China, DeepSeek, and American Complacency
Francis X. Maier
History is a heartless teacher. Three hundred years before Christ, Carthage was a prosperous commercial empire dominating the Mediterranean, sustained…
Articles
First Things / February 3, 2025
What We Need, and Don’t Need, Now
Francis X. Maier
The new autobiography by Pope Francis, Hope, written with the help of Italian journalist Carlo Musso, is a mixed experience. …
Articles
The Catholic Thing / January 29, 2025
Sing to Me, Muse, of the Man
Francis X. Maier
Back in my years as a religion news editor (1978-93), one of my self-imposed penances was reading The Nation. A taste for…
Articles
The Catholic Thing / January 17, 2025
On the Ninth Day of Christmas
Francis X. Maier
In our house, we cling to the Christmas season like survivors of a torpedoed steamer. The tree stays up until…
Articles
The Catholic Thing / January 3, 2025
The Problem with Comfort and Joy
Francis X. Maier
Year in and year out, the weeks of Advent and Christmas are a time for carols. In our home, they…
Articles
The Catholic Thing / December 18, 2024
Advent from a Prison Cell
Francis X. Maier
The recent (and sadly flawed) movie Bonhoeffer reminds us that Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and Lutheran theologian, is rightly revered for his…
Articles
First Things / December 17, 2024
Doers of the Word
Francis X. Maier
Words matter. They express but also shape our thoughts, which in turn frame the way we live. Here’s an example: …
Articles
The Catholic Thing / December 4, 2024