Erik Varden, O.C.S.O. (born 13 May 1974) is a Norwegian Catholic spiritual writer,

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

monk, and

bishop-prelate In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

of the

Territorial Prelature of Trondheim Trondheim, Norway is the seat of the Roman Catholic Territorial Prelature of Trondheim, which before March 1979 was the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Norway. The prelature leadership is currently under bishop Erik Varden. The prelature includes ...

since 1 October 2019.

Early life and education

Varden was born in a non-practising

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

family in

South Norway South Norway (, ) is the southern and by far most populous half of Norway, consisting of the regions of Western Norway, Eastern Norway, Southern Norway (Agder) and Trøndelag (Central Norway). In English, South Norway was historically also known ...

and grew up in the village of

Degernes Degernes is a village and parish in Rakkestad municipality in Østfold county, Norway. History Rakkestad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It was divided into the parishes of Rakkestad, Degernes, an ...

. His Christian life was inspired by Tadeusz Hoppe. After school education in his native country, he continued to study at the

Atlantic College Atlantic College (formally the United World College of the Atlantic; alternatively styled UWC Atlantic College, UWCAC, or UWCA) is an independent boarding school in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. Founded in 1962, it was the first of ...

, Wales (until 1992) and then at

Magdalene College Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

(1992–1995) with

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree. He obtained a doctorate from

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

and

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus; abbreviated STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theol ...

at the

Pontifical Oriental Institute The Pontifical Oriental Institute, also known as the Orientale, is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity. The plan of creating a school of higher learning for Eastern Christianity had been ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He officially joined the Catholic Church in June 1993. He joined

Mount St Bernard Abbey Mount St Bernard Abbey is a Roman Catholic, Trappist monastery near Coalville, Leicestershire, England, founded in 1835 in the parish of Whitwick and now in that of Charley. The abbey was the first permanent monastery to be founded in England ...

, a

monastery near

Coalville Coalville is an industrial town in the district of North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England, with a population at the 2011 census of 34,575. It lies on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Tr ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, England in 2002; he made a

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...

on 1 October 2004 and a solemn profession on 6 October 2007, and was ordained as

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

on 16 July 2011, for this community by bishop

Malcolm McMahon Malcolm Patrick McMahon, OP, KC*HS (born 14 June 1949) is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Since 2014, he has been the ninth Archbishop of Liverpool. Previously, he was Bishop of Nottingham from 2000 to 2014. Early life an ...

. From 2011 to 2013 he was a professor of

Syriac language The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic language, Aramaic dialect that emerged during ...

, monastic history, and

Christian anthropology In the context of Christian theology, Christian anthropology is the study of the human (anthropos) as it relates to God. It differs from the social science of anthropology, which primarily deals with the comparative study of the physical and soc ...

at the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm in

Monastic Leadership

Varden left teaching at St. Anselm in Rome and returned to his abbey in 2013 upon his appointment as superior administrator of the abbey. On 16 April 2015, he became the eleventh abbot of Mount St Bernard Abbey, following a further election, also becoming the first abbot to have been born outside Britain or Ireland to lead this abbey. He also is an author of books and articles in the field of Christian spirituality and monasticism. He is also a musician and studied

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

under

Mary Berry Dame Mary Rosa Alleyne Hunnings (; born 24 March 1935), known professionally as Mary Berry, is an English food writer, chef, baker and television presenter. After being encouraged in domestic science classes at school, she studied catering at ...

, later co-founding the Chant Forum with Margaret Truran of

Stanbrook Abbey Stanbrook Abbey is a Catholic contemplative Benedictine women's monastery with the status of an abbey, located at Wass, North Yorkshire, England. The community was founded in 1625 at Cambrai in Flanders (then part of the Spanish Netherlands, ...

. In 2015, Varden was interviewed as part of a

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

documentary, 'Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries', by

Janina Ramirez Janina Sara Maria Ramirez (; ' Maleczek; born 7 July 1980), sometimes credited as Nina Ramirez, is a British art historian, cultural historian, and TV presenter. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art within their his ...

. In 2019, Varden 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.

Episcopal Ministry Trondheim

On 1 October 2019, he was appointed by

pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

as the prelate of the

in his native Norway, which had been vacant for the previous ten years. The consecration of Varden was scheduled for 4 January 2020 but was postponed because of health issues. He received episcopal consecration on 3 October 2020 in

Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral ( no, Nidarosdomen / Nidaros Domkirke) is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of Olav II of Norway, King Olav II (c. 995–1030, reigned 1015–102 ...

. He is the first native Norwegian Roman Catholic bishop in Trondheim in modern times: his five predecessors were all German.

References

External links

Bishop Varden's websiteThe Catholic Church in Norway Official SiteThe Episcopal Ordination of Erik Varden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varden, Erik 1974 births Living people People from Sarpsborg People educated at Atlantic College People educated at a United World College Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Pontifical Oriental Institute alumni Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm alumni Academic staff of the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Norway Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Trappist bishops Norwegian Roman Catholic bishops Bishops appointed by Pope Francis

Early life and education

Monastic Leadership

Episcopal Ministry Trondheim

See also

References

External links