He probably has a number of friends and family members who aren't Catholic and also live "a good life". I truly believe that most people who go down this route do so because they can't bear the thought that their loved one(s) didn't make it.
That or just emotionally in general the thought of so many being lost, especially people who seem like "good" people. It's not easy (requires grace, a free gift) to see the world with supernatural eyes, so to speak, distinguishing between natural virtue and the free supernatural gifts. It's really the error of Pelagius repackaged. I can do great acts of kidness, but they have no supernatural merit by themselves, as only Our Lord, being God, can merit that way, or Our Lord dewlling within us.
There's also an unfortunate view of Hell that's become prevalent, where it's a monolithic cauldron of fire, and naturally virtuous people are being tossed around in the flames right next to the most wicked serial killers, mass murderers, war criminals, and child rapists. But that's entirely untrue and one of the Church's EENS definitions even points out that each individual suffers according to the measure of his evils. For some, this suffering could be mild, as their natural virtue may have outweighed the vices or weaknesses they had.
So this view of Hell leads to the idea that these "good people", Protestants who lived next door perhaps, are burning in the cauldron right next to Joe Stalin, leads people to recoil against the thought that they might be there. But what if their view of Hell is wrong?