Secularism Ends in Scandinavia: Nothing Left to Be Secularised — Monsignor Varden
- I am not convinced by the sociological data on religion, which suggests that religious indifference is on the rise.
- I have the utmost respect for the Pew Research Centre, but I must say that, purely empirically, the statement does not correspond with my own observations.
- The trend is clear and growing steadily: young people long for substance. I see them faithfully attending well-prepared and carefully designed Eucharists.
- What I am witnessing is a new search for meaning, for criteria, for community, for truth.
- In Scandinavia, secularisation has now come to an end. Quite simply because there is actually nothing left to secularise.
- The fact that human beings somehow carry a desire for the limitless within themselves is also evident in a very secular discourse, most recently in transhumanism.
- When confronted with death, people look for ways to overcome it technically, digitally or medically.
- You can grow up in great prosperity, without material problems, perhaps even without too many human problems, have everything you could wish for, and still say to yourself that it's not enough.
- It's new to me that 16- and 17-year-olds are coming up and asking questions. In our bookshop in Trondheim, in the cathedral or in my office. They ask: What is it all about? Why do I exist and what is the meaning of my life? Do I have a significance in the world that transcends my own feelings? Is there such a thing as ultimate meaning? Does love have meaning? Does my longing for love have meaning? What do you actually believe in when you profess your faith in Jesus Christ?
- The Church offers a space that enables us to face life as it really is.
- The Trappist nuns of Trontheim in Norway report that people regularly come to their church on a small island off the west coast of Norway. Tourists or visitors or hikers who simply sit there quietly and cry. Not that they are necessarily sad... the church allows them to open up inner spaces that otherwise remain closed for too long.
Picture: Erik Varden © wikipedia, CC BY-SA, #newsGbrndyoqce