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Erik Varden

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The Most Reverend

Erik Varden

OCSO
Bishop-Prelate of
Territorial Prelature of Trondheim
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
Appointed1 October 2019
PredecessorBernt Ivar Eidsvig
(Ap. Administrator)
Other post(s)Abbot of Mount St Bernard Abbey (2013–2019)
Orders
Ordination16 July 2011 (Priest)
by Malcolm McMahon
Consecration3 October 2020 in Nidaros Cathedral
by Bernt Ivar Eidsvig
Personal details
Born (1974-05-13) 13 May 1974 (age 50)
Sarpsborg, Norway
MottoLatin: Coram Fratribus Intellexi
Understanding with my brothers
Coat of arms

Erik Varden OCSO (born 13 May 1974) is a Norwegian Catholic prelate, spiritual writer, and Trappist monk. He has served as Bishop of Trondheim since 2020.

Early life and education

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Varden was born in a non-practising Lutheran family in South Norway and grew up in the village of Degernes.[1] After concluding his school education in Norway, he continued to study at the Atlantic College, Wales (until 1992) and then at Magdalene College, Cambridge (1992–1995) with Master of Arts degree in Theology and Religious Studies through the Faculty of Divinity.[2] He obtained a doctorate through the same faculty as a member of St John's College, Cambridge, and subsequently a Licentiate of Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.

He officially entered the Catholic Church in June 1993.[1] In 2002 he was admitted to Mount St Bernard Abbey, a Trappist monastery near Coalville in Leicestershire, England 2002;[2] he made his profession on 1 October 2004 and solemn profession on 6 October 2007, and on 16 July 2011 was ordained a priest,[3] in this community by Bishop Malcolm McMahon.

From 2011 to 2013 he was a professor of Syriac language, monastic history, and Christian anthropology at the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm in Rome.[2]

Abbatial ministry

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Varden left teaching at St. Anselm in Rome and returned to his abbey in 2013 upon his appointment as superior administrator of the abbey.[2] On 16 April 2015, he became the eleventh abbot of Mount St Bernard Abbey, following a further election,[4] also becoming the first abbot to have been born outside Britain or Ireland to govern this abbey.

Varden is the author of books and articles in the field of Christian spirituality and monasticism.[1] He is likewise a musician and studied Gregorian chant under Mary Berry, later co-founding the Chant Forum with Margaret Truran of Stanbrook Abbey.

In 2015, Varden was interviewed as part of a BBC Four documentary, Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries, by Janina Ramirez.[5] In 2019 he was featured in the critically acclaimed feature documentary Outside the city (2019) by Nick Hamer, which was broadcast on BBC, and distributed by Verve Pictures. It won the 2022 Sandford St Martin Award and was nominated for an RTS Award for best documentary in the UK.

Bishop-prelacy of Trondheim

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On 1 October 2019, he was appointed by Pope Francis prelate of the Territorial Prelature of Trondheim in his native Norway, which had been vacant for the previous ten years.[3] His episcopal consecration was scheduled for 4 January 2020, but was postponed on account of the short sabbatical period that was granted him as his request and on account also of the restrictions that were later imposed by the spread of COVID-19.

Varden's episcopal consecration took place on 3 October 2020 in Nidaros Cathedral.[6] He is the first native Norwegian Catholic bishop in Trondheim in modern times: his five predecessors were all German missionaries.[7][8]

Bibliography

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  • Varden, Erik (2023). Chastity: Reconciliation of the Senses. London: Bloomsbury Continuum. ISBN 9781399411394.
  • Varden, Erik (2023). Å fine sammen: politiske innspill. Oslo: St. Olav Forlag. ISBN 9788270244140.
  • Varden, Erik (2022). Entering the Twofold Mystery: On Christian Conversion. London: Bloomsbury Continuum. ISBN 9781472979445.
  • Varden, Erik (2018). The Shattering of Loneliness: On Christian Remembrance. London: Bloomsbury Continuum. ISBN 9781472953261.
    • German translation: Heimweh nach Herrlichkeit: Ein Trappist über die Fülle des Lebens (Freiburg: Herder, 2021)
    • Italian translation: La solitudine spezzata: Sulla memoria cristiana (Magnano: Edizioni Qiqajon, 2019)
    • Polish translation: Samotność przełamana (Poznań: W drodze, 2022)
  • Varden, Erik (2011). Redeeming Freedom: The Principle of Servitude in Bérulle. Roma: Pontificio Ateneo S. Anselmo. ISBN 9783830674788.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Guzzetti, Silvia (7 November 2019). "Father Erik Varden: "God touched my heart with music". Famiglia Cristiana Website (in Italian). Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Ny biskop-prelat i Trondheim". www.katolsk.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Father Erik Varden, O.C.S.O." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Mount Saint Bernard List of Abbots" (in German). Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  5. ^ Ramirez, Janina (20 February 2015). "Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries". Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  6. ^ Stocke-Nicolaisen, Petter T. "Bishop-elect to the believers: There is an inherent joy in everything that exists!" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Norway's Newest Bishop is Cistercian Monk". Retrieved 6 Oct 2020.
  8. ^ Varden, Bishop Erik. "Bishop of Trondheim". Retrieved 4 October 2020.
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Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Joseph Delargy
 Abbot of Mount St Bernard Abbey
2013–2019 		Succeeded by
Joseph Delargy
Preceded by
Bernt Ivar Eidsvig
(as Apostolic Administrator)
 Prelate of Territorial Prelature of Trondheim
2019–present 		Incumbent
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