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CV NEWS FEED // Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, recently decried the nation’s hypocrisy in its celebration of a “millennium of Christian legislation” after the recent passage of a pro-abortion law.
“This coincidence indicates a kind of schizophrenia it is considered bad form to name; but it must be done,” Bishop Varden, who is a Trappist monk in addition to a Bishop, wrote in an August 29 letter on his blog “Coram Fratribus.”
The millennium of Christian legislation landmark celebrates, according to Bishop Varden, the movement of the country from governance of “might” to “right,” as well as “the recognition of women, children, and slaves as legal subjects with inalienable rights; the establishment of ‘values’ that allegedly constitute what our Constitution calls ‘our Christian heritage’.”
The new abortion law, which was proposed in August, expands the window of legal abortion from 12 to 18 weeks, according to Norway’s News in English. Bishop Varden pointed out that the law also deliberately avoids referring to the unborn as “children.”
According to the Bishop, Norway’s Council of Catholic Bishops had requested that the law be rejected, putting forward the question:
“‘Is it to Norway’s benefit to develop legislation sentimentalising the very notion of personhood, ascribing personhood to a wanted individual but withholding recognition of personhood from one that is unwanted, and on this basis expediting that individual either towards survival or to death?’”
The Bishop concluded in his post, “We regret the implementation of this development, and the silence surrounding it.”
According to Vatican News, Bishop Varden is a Trappist monk who was elected abbot of his monastery in 2015. He has been serving the Diocese of Trondheim as Bishop since 2019.
Bishop Varden created Coram Fratribus in 2021.
“My mission as a bishop is to preach the gospel, so the goal for the website is to act as a channel in this,” he told Vatican News in 2021.
