WATCH: Francis X. Maier Has Good News and Bad News about Conflict in the Catholic Church

Francis X. Maier said he wanted to share “Good news and bad news” about the Church in the 21st century.

“The process of conversion involves unavoidable conflict,” he said, “But in the end the good news outweighs the bad. There are just too many reasons for hope and confidence.”

Scroll down to see his remarks, “Mater et Magistra: How to Think about Conflict in the Church” below or click here to watch it on the Benedictine College Lectures YouTube page.

Maier is a senior fellow in Catholic Studies at the Public Policy Center who spent 23 years as the special assistant of Archbishop Charles J. Chaput O.F.M. cap.

However, “There’s no quick fix for the problems we behaved ourselves into,” he said. On one side, “We now have a culture soaked in hardcore pornography,” and too often, on the other, “we’ve forgotten who we are, what our baptism actually means, and what a genuinely Catholic life looks like,” he said.

But after interviewing hundreds of priests and bishops, Maier assured the audience that the Church is in good hands, and said: “The one thing that history proves again and again is that the Church is very very good at the long game. “

“Benedictine College is a treasure,” he said, and said the Symposium for Transforming Culture where he was a keynote speaker is itself a sign of hope for the Church.

Enjoy his talk, and the Q&A, both of which are filled with gems of advice such as “It’s hard to convert the guy next door if we’re busy demeaning them,” and “All efforts fail unless they are rooted in contemplation.”

Maier’s work has appeared in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, First Things, National Review, The American Spectator, Crisis, This World, America, The Catholic Thing, Commonweal.