Erik Varden: "No truly edifying word has ever been uttered with contempt."Nordic bishops alert to "a secular discourse on sexuality".Bishop Erik Varden is a Cistercian monk and President of the Scandinavian Bishops' Conference. Known for his keen analysis of current affairs, Monsignor Varden looks at the world with hope and is able to see in the events around us signs that God continues to care for each person and that the Holy Spirit is guiding the Church.
It is not surprising, therefore, that Erik Varden is able to relate to Christian doctrine three major concepts that are misunderstood today: diversity, inclusion and equity.
After a conference which he delivered at Princeton University at the end of October, in this interview the president of the Scandinavian Bishops' Conference elaborates on these three concepts by applying them to Benedictine spirituality and lifestyle.
You talk about diversity, equity and inclusion in relation to the Church. Could you explain these concepts and why we need them right now in the Church?
- I think there are many reasons for this. Obviously, this triad of diversity, equity and inclusion works differently in different countries. In the United States it is a much more universal reference than in Europe. It is a more unitary concept there than in Europe, and it is used as a basis for strategic decisions, for monitoring the good or bad functioning of institutions... And as such, the terms have become controversial, because some argue that these terms represent the path to a just society and a fairer government, particularly within institutions. But others consider them partial, biased, meaningless and manipulative.
In Europe the terms work differently. I think in both the north and the south they are used in political discourse and, to some extent, in ecclesiastical discourse. To take them on board and study them is very important, and I think it is also important to try to find out what they point to. In my opinion, they all point to a fundamental question, which is painful in most of our countries in the Western world. That fundamental question is: what does it mean to belong?
These concepts are very frequent in speeches today, but how can we link them to Catholic doctrine and God's plan for us?
- We need to ask ourselves some much-needed questions. Equity, diversity and inclusion are three excellent terms, potentially. But they are not self-explanatory; they require context.
When we talk about inclusion, it is meaningless until I define what I want and expect to be included in. It's all very well to talk about fairness, but fairness by what standard of justice? And when we talk about diversity, we realize that the world is diverse by nature, but by what fundamental standard?
These terms become introspective and unhelpful when they become mere instruments of self-affirmation. When inclusion means you have to accept me on my terms, otherwise I will take you to court, or when fairness means you have to give me everything I think I deserve, the terms become useless.
When we open ourselves to these meta-questions, to the standards on which we propose to form a society and to the values by which we want to live and grow, then we will feel the need for some kind of absolute or at least stable parameters. At that point, the biblically revealed concepts of God, humanity and just society are actually not so remote. In fact, they turn out to be extremely pertinent and relevant to the questions we are asking.
If we simply follow the questions and "open them up," we can repair that apparent disconnect between political and theological discourse, between a discourse of rights and a discourse of grace.
It also speaks of the rebirth of man. What does that mean?
- I mean this in the broadest possible sense. It is an aspiration to see for our times the articulation of a profoundly Christian anthropology. We are in a predicament, we live with many urgent questions about specific human identity. But also, we live with the global threat of artificial intelligence, we entrust ourselves to machines, and we like that because having our phones as our own handmade limb makes us feel in touch with everything and everyone. But at the same time we feel threatened by it.
So the important task is to reestablish what it is to be a human being, and to reestablish it realistically in terms of human frailties, but also in terms of human potential. And try to encourage people to want to live.
Something that I find very disturbing and sad is the immense weariness that is now often found in young people, and even in children. It is important to try to help these people to open their eyes and raise their heads, to look around them and to search. I want them to consider what they can become, and that is what I mean by my aspiration for the rebirth of man.
You hold up monasteries as an example of diversity, equity and inclusion. Why did you choose an example that could be considered outdated?
- Perhaps because it is not something that is far removed from our own time. When you think about it, in purely historical, or even sociological terms, we can look back over a long time in European history and we see one epoch after another in rise and fall, one intellectual current after another. Throughout all this one of the main constants is this strange persistence of Benedictine monastic life.
Because monastic life corresponds to something so deep in the human heart, it has a way of shoring itself up and re-establishing itself and flourishing in the most surprising circumstances. So I think it is worth asking what it is about this particular micro-society that has made it so enduring when we see so many political and institutional structures collapsing. And, at the same time, what is it that makes it so flexible, capable of inserting itself into the most varied circumstances while maintaining its characteristic identity.
He states that mumbling is a dangerous form of passive aggression. Why is it so bad and how do we solve this problem when it seems so easy to adopt it as a habit in our lives?
- A lot of it has to do with sorting out my own baggage. That tendency to externalize any complaint makes people feel that they have dealt with what ails them just by saying so. If we go by the monastic reference, monks tend to be great realists because they have to live with themselves and other people for a long time. The monastic tradition encourages us to look at our feelings and experiences and ask where they come from and what they mean.
Most of the time, we have all experienced this, someone may say something to me and it hurts me deeply and I feel like hitting back, but what the other person has said may actually be innocuous, so my response has nothing to do with what was said, but with some kind of trigger that came about through that thing that was uttered.
Therefore, if we want to free ourselves from our own irrational passions, what matters is to have the patience, perseverance and courage to follow those responses and deal with them at their roots.
Despite the fragile and difficult situation our world is going through, you exude hope. Where does that attitude come from?
- I am amazed at the amount of kindness I find in people. Like everyone else, I look at the world and feel distressed, because so much is going on. But, at the same time, I see great resilience in people. Also, I believe in God. I believe that human history, despite all its apparent absurdities, is moving towards a goal and that it makes sense. Even dark spots and painful experiences can contribute to a good end.
I also find the kind of principled negativity and pessimism that dominates our cultural and intellectual discourse very boring. When you've heard it once, you've heard it all. Instead of just joining in a chorus that is part of a song that has no melody, let's look at what music can arise. If we do this, we will discover that when we listen we can hear all kinds of tonalities.
