
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, will be released by Ignatius Press in early 2024.
What We Need Now
Francis X. Maier

Having criticized the Washington Post for its March 9 hit-job on the unpleasant but revealing work of Catholic Laity and…
Articles
The Catholic Thing / March 30, 2023
The New Intolerance
Francis X. Maier

There is a new kind of intolerance “strangling open discussion across the West,” and this new brand of intolerance is linked closely with the sexual revolution.
Articles
First Things / March 21, 2023
Enough is Enough
Francis X. Maier

The priesthood, just like the laity, is peopled by humans; and humans are creatures with flaws.
Articles
The Catholic Thing / March 16, 2023
Black is Beautiful
Francis X. Maier

All those we love, and we ourselves, will one day go through that great black door of death. We need to acknowledge that fact and not try to evade or soften it. Without God, life really is a tragedy, and our mourning is a meaningless biochemical reaction. But our story doesn’t end there. The door has another side: a side of light, with a waiting, loving God.
Articles
Public Discourse / March 8, 2023
Father Love Is a Hard Love
Francis X. Maier

The father who says he likes being tough on his kids is a liar. Fathers want to be loved, and too often they’re lonely.
Articles
First Things / March 1, 2023
The Life and Times of ‘La Duchesse’
Francis X. Maier

Bronwen McShea’s new book, La Duchesse captures with vivid grace and detail the life of one of the most important, if unheralded, women in French history.
Articles
The Catholic Thing / February 28, 2023
Apocalypse Now
Francis X. Maier

In the vast stream of history, individuals rarely seem to matter. . .except in the eyes of God.
Articles
The Catholic Thing / February 16, 2023
Remembering an Exceptional Man: Cardinal Francis George
Francis X. Maier

We live at a moment when we urgently need the witness of good Christian men and women. In the life of the Church, we need leaders of courage and Catholic fidelity; men who will accompany the poor and the broken.
Articles
The Catholic Thing / February 6, 2023
My Kind of Antichrist
Francis X. Maier

It turns out that “antichrist” comes in all shapes and sizes.
Articles
The Catholic Thing / January 19, 2023
The Quiet Genius of Pope Benedict XVI
Francis X. Maier

The ‘pope between the times’ had an unshakable faith that complemented his luminescent intellect.
Articles
The Wall Street Journal / December 31, 2022