{"id":227689,"date":"2026-01-21T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/?p=227689"},"modified":"2026-04-29T16:43:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T14:43:52","slug":"libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-foro-omnes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-foro-omnes\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishop Erik Varden presents 'Healing Wounds' at Omnes Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Healing wounds<\/em>The fragility of life strikes us in many ways, with losses, uncertainties, visible and invisible wounds. And in the face of this personal anguish, the words of <strong>Erik Varden<\/strong>, Bishop of Trondheim (Norway) and Cistercian monk, emerge as the wind of <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/mapas-de-esperanza-papa-leon-xiv-carta\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/mapas-de-esperanza-papa-leon-xiv-carta\/\">hope<\/a>. His message, profoundly Catholic and at the same time contemporary, has made him one of the most lucid and heard voices of Catholicism in the 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Erik Varden: Wounds that Heal. A reflection on pain and suffering\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8-mBmHaK5Mo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"el-sufrimiento-no-es-un-enemigo-sino-un-misterio\">Suffering is not an enemy, but a mystery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For this reason, its <strong>presence always causes expectation and excitement<\/strong>, because his speech has an impact on every person who has ever felt <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/como-superar-el-dolor-y-el-duelo-desde-la-fe\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/como-superar-el-dolor-y-el-duelo-desde-la-fe\/\">the weight of pain<\/a>, loss or uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Madrid, more than 250 people crowded the Aula Magna of the CEU San Pablo University to attend the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/la-crisis-espiritual-de-europa-joseph-weiler\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/la-crisis-espiritual-de-europa-joseph-weiler\/\">Omnes Forum<\/a><\/strong> and listen to him. The bishop of Trondheim and author reflected on his latest book <em><a href=\"https:\/\/edicionesencuentro.com\/libro\/heridas-que-sanan\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/edicionesencuentro.com\/libro\/heridas-que-sanan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Healing wounds<\/a><\/em>, which touches on human suffering and its Christian meaning. The Forum, organized by Omnes Magazine together with Ediciones Encuentro and the \u00c1ngel Herrera Oria Cultural Foundation, was also sponsored by the <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/donar\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"170000\">CARF Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Erik Varden (Sarpsborg, Norway, 1974) is an accessible monk, a religious man who turns the meaning of suffering upside down: \u00abit is not an enemy, but a mystery that demands to be seen, welcomed and transformed from the <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/fiesta-del-sagrado-corazon-de-jesus\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"167775\">heart<\/a>\u00bb, he pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From a Christian point of view, suffering cannot be simply explained or eliminated. Christianity does not offer theories that annul pain, but a presence capable of assuming and redeeming it. And that presence is Christ incarnate. For this reason, this monk, born into a non-practicing family of Lutheran tradition, explained that <strong>the core of the Christian mystery is in the Incarnation<\/strong>God, being absolute transcendence, enters into the human condition to heal it from within. \u00abThe Incarnation takes place in view of the Redemption,\u00bb he said, insisting that the <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/el-sentido-del-sufrimiento-en-dios\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/el-sentido-del-sufrimiento-en-dios\/\">suffering is not the end of the story<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/erik-varden-universidad-de-navarra.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-227692\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.4992888417882142;width:792px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/erik-varden-universidad-de-navarra.webp 1000w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/erik-varden-universidad-de-navarra-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/erik-varden-universidad-de-navarra-150x100.webp 150w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/erik-varden-universidad-de-navarra-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/erik-varden-universidad-de-navarra-18x12.webp 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"una-belleza-que-sana\"><strong>A beauty that heals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a slow but firm voice, Varden reminds us that <strong>suffering is not a cosmic accident or a failure of the universe, but a deep mystery<\/strong> which, if contemplated with faith, reveals a beauty that heals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his lecture, he evoked a passage from <strong><em>Crime and punishment<\/em><\/strong> where a man, in the face of unjust pain, cries out in anger: \u00abI'm not a man.\u00ab<strong>there can be no answer to this<\/strong>\u00bb.  Faced with this cry, his brother does not try to correct or explain it; he simply remains silent and looks at the cross. That, he said, is the Christian response: \u00abnot an explanation that cancels out the pain, but a silent presence in the face of suffering\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Between denial and victimization: two contemporary pitfalls<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Varden pointed to two typical responses of our time to suffering. On one hand, the culture of surface and appearance, what he called the \u201cInstagram trend\u201d that pushes us to <strong>projecting perfect and invulnerable lives,<\/strong> hiding any wounds. On the other hand, the growing inclination to victimization may cause wounds to become closed and absolute identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The danger, he explained, is to be caught between these two dynamics: denying pain or trapping it as a static identity. And both distort the Christian perspective.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"920\" height=\"526\" src=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/foro-omnes-erik-vardem.jpg\" alt=\"heridas-que-sanan-erik-vardem-foro-omnes\" class=\"wp-image-227712\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.7490890161374284;width:789px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/foro-omnes-erik-vardem.jpg 920w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/foro-omnes-erik-vardem-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/foro-omnes-erik-vardem-150x86.jpg 150w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/foro-omnes-erik-vardem-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/foro-omnes-erik-vardem-18x10.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 920px) 100vw, 920px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Experiencing pain firsthand<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Erik Varden is a man who has experienced firsthand the search for meaning in the face of pain.<\/strong> Born in a <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/familia-cristiana-amoris-laetitia\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/familia-cristiana-amoris-laetitia\/\">family<\/a> A non-practicing Lutheran, his life took a radical turn when, as a teenager, he experienced a spiritual awakening that led him to deepen his Christian faith and, eventually, to enter the monastic life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With studies at the University of Cambridge and the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, he entered the Cistercian monastery of Mount St. Bernard in England in 2002, where he became a member of the Cistercian monastery of Mount St. Bernard in England. <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/sacerdocio\/que-es-un-sacerdote\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/sacerdocio\/que-es-un-sacerdote\/\">ordained priest<\/a> and later elected abbot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His works, which include titles such as <em>Chastity<\/em>, <em>On Christian conversion<\/em> y <em>Healing wounds<\/em>, The work combines a deep spirituality with a sensitive look at the human condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"heridas-que-sanan-contemplar-el-misterio-de-la-cruz\">Healing wounds: contemplating the mystery of the cross<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>His latest book, <em>Healing wounds<\/em> stands as a profound meditation on that same experience. Drawing from an ancient Cistercian poem, Varden invites us to contemplate the wounds of <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/santa-misa-se-habran-encontrado-con-cristo\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"224077\">Christ<\/a> not as a sad or defeated symbol<strong>, but as the living source from which healing can be found.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00abWe all carry scars - some visible, others hidden deep in the soul - and we look for answers in therapies, philosophies or spiritual advice that often fall short of the question that tears us most: <strong>why does life hurt?<\/strong>\u00bbHe launched as if it were a missile before the silence of the Aula Magna of the CEU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this contemporary monk knows how to give a comforting answer: \u00abon the path of life, suffering is not eliminated, but transformed by <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/la-figura-historica-de-jesus-de-nazaret\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/la-figura-historica-de-jesus-de-nazaret\/\">to join in Christ's redemptive suffering<\/a>, becoming not only a consolation but also a source of life and grace\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The cross: symbol of freedom and communion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Norwegian bishop also reflected on the cross as a symbol that breaks with our logic of self-sufficiency. He noted that <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/viernes-santo-el-sentido-cruz-para-cristianos\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/viernes-santo-el-sentido-cruz-para-cristianos\/\">contemplate the cross<\/a> -where nails pierce the flesh and mobility is nullified - seems to represent the absolute negation of freedom. But, he said, <strong>read from the perspective of faith, reveals an extreme freedom<\/strong>: \u00ab<strong>if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, but let your will be done.<\/strong>\". <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even when physical freedom is restricted, a completely free inner response is still possible. The cross shows that we are not mere spectators of suffering, but can respond freely in the midst of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"722\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-ediciones-encuentro-722x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-227694\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-ediciones-encuentro-722x1024.webp 722w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-ediciones-encuentro-211x300.webp 211w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-ediciones-encuentro-106x150.webp 106w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-ediciones-encuentro-768x1090.webp 768w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-ediciones-encuentro-1082x1536.webp 1082w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-ediciones-encuentro-1443x2048.webp 1443w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-ediciones-encuentro-8x12.webp 8w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/libro-heridas-que-sanan-erik-varden-ediciones-encuentro-scaled.webp 1804w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 722px) 100vw, 722px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Book cover <em>Healing wounds, <\/em>by Erik Varden (Ediciones Encuentro).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"sanar-no-es-olvidar-es-transformar-en-amor\">Healing is not forgetting, it is transforming into love.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The bishop insisted that healing is not instantaneous nor does it automatically eliminate pain. Some physical or emotional fractures may remain, but that does not exclude them from the healing action of grace. \u00abThe Christian faith proclaims not only a God who is capable of eliminating suffering, but a God who <strong>carries it with us and transforms it into a source of healing and life.<\/strong>\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And here he quoted the words of Isaiah which he himself put as an epigraph in his book: \u201c<strong>By his wounds we have been healed<\/strong>\u201dto add that learning to say <strong>\u201cLord, this is yours.\u201d,<\/strong> Even wounds that hurt can be turned into bridges of healing for oneself and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"un-valle-iluminado-por-la-esperanza\">A valley illuminated by hope<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>At the conclusion of his speech at the Forum, Varden stated with serenity and depth: \u00ab<strong>we live in this world as in a valley of tears, but it is a valley illuminated by the light of Christ.<\/strong>\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is not an empty phrase of consolation, but an affirmation that recognizes the reality of human pain and the Christian hope that <strong>we are not alone in our wounds<\/strong>. Every painful experience, when accepted and interpreted in faith, can be transformed into a path of communion with God and with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1438\" src=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC00297-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"heridas-que-sanan-erik-vardem-foro-omnes\" class=\"wp-image-227724\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.7803093022485676;width:792px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC00297-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC00297-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC00297-1024x575.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC00297-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC00297-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC00297-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC00297-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC00297-18x10.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"el-giro-catolico-y-el-sufrimiento-como-horizonte-de-vida\">The Catholic turn and suffering as a horizon of life<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/foco\/entrevista-erik-varden-giro-catolico\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interview<\/a> granted to <strong>Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Atienza<\/strong>, Varden, editor-in-chief of Omnes Magazine, shortly after the Forum, Varden spoke of what he called a <em>real catholic turn<\/em> in our time. For him, <a href=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/comunion-de-los-santos-una-verdad-hermosa\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/comunion-de-los-santos-una-verdad-hermosa\/\">the Christian faith<\/a> \u00abis not simply to add a layer of comfort to an already \u201cperfect\u201d or \u201cself-sufficient\u201d life, but to accept that the deepest part of human existence revolves around our wounds, which we usually prefer to hide or deny.\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Varden explained that under the prism of faith, suffering acquires a totally different dimension: <strong>\u00abwe begin to be able to see our own wounds as potentially life-giving and life-enhancing.<\/strong>\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This Catholic turn, according to him, is neither sentimental nor superficial, but a profound return to the Christian tradition that recognizes - but does not avoid - human wounds and places them before the mystery of Christ. It is a call not to lose oneself in the denial of pain, nor in a permanent victimization, but to situate suffering within a larger story that leads to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Marta Sant\u00edn<\/strong>journalist specializing in religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><p><strong>Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p><nav><ul><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#el-sufrimiento-no-es-un-enemigo-sino-un-misterio\">Suffering is not an enemy, but a mystery<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#heridas-que-sanan-contemplar-el-misterio-de-la-cruz\">Healing wounds: contemplating the mystery of the cross<\/a><ul><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#sanar-no-es-olvidar-es-transformar-en-amor\">Healing is not forgetting, it is transforming into love.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bishop Erik Varden presented his book 'Wounds that Heal', and affirmed that God does not eliminate suffering, he carries it with us. He stressed that the response of Christianity is not a theoretical explanation of pain, but the presence of God who assumes it and redeems it.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":227690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[350,312,351,352,6],"class_list":["post-227689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-erik-varden","tag-foro-omnes","tag-heridas-que-sanan","tag-sufrimiento","tag-vida-cristiana"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227689"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":229709,"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227689\/revisions\/229709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}