Our Real Pandemic, by Francis X. Maier

By Francis X. Maier, The Catholic Thing, May 5, 2021

Francis X. Maier is a senior fellow in Catholic studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a senior research associate in Constitutional Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He served as senior aide to Archbishop Charles Chaput for twenty-three years.

Michel Houellebecq is a very gifted French cynic.  He’s also one of my favorite writers.  His novels are very far from being Christian, but he has at least three redeeming qualities. He’s not “woke.” He enjoys needling the vanity of self-described progressives. And every once in a while, he sees and speaks the truth with a ferocious candor.  In other words, unlike so many of our civic and cultural leaders, and regrettably some of our religious leaders, he’s not a coward.

A month ago, in the French national daily Le Figaro, he wrote an article with the title, “How France Lost Her Dignity.” His target was a euthanasia bill pending in the French National Assembly. Here’s what he wrote:

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