IN THE VACANT PLACES WE WILL BUILD WITH NEW BRICKS

Erik Varden, Bishop of Trondheim, President of the Episcopal Conference of Scandinavia. Introduced by Bernhard Scholz, President of the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples ETS Foundation

The title of Meeting 2025, “In the vacant places we will build with new bricks,” is taken from T.S. Eliot’s Choruses from “The Rock.” It is an invitation to build — in the deserts of individualism, indifference, violence, and meaninglessness — a world of authentic relationships, genuine hospitality, and work directed toward the common good. What, then, can encourage creative and forward-looking construction? What are the sources of a freedom capable of overcoming the many difficulties, obstacles, and contradictions? From what hope can a renewed commitment to the good and a passionate pursuit of truth be born? We posed these questions to Erik Varden, Trappist monk, Bishop of Trondheim (Norway), and President of the Episcopal Conference of Scandinavia, which gathers the bishops of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.