In September of this year, Norwegian Bishop Erik Varden, a member of the Cistercian Order and President of the Nordic Bishops’ Conference, gave an address on the topic of populism and migration. His words, addressed to countries that have experienced an influx of migrants from Eastern Europe and the Middle East, speaks prophetically about the role of the Church in building a more just society here on earth. In these upcoming bulletin columns, I’ll comment briefly on his speech to unpack what lessons it has for us in the American Catholic Church. He first speaks about the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11 and how God was displeased with it. He says,

“Was it not good for humanity to unite in joint enterprise, pursuing a single goal? What God condemned was not unanimity, but presumption. He saw that if man should succeed in building, by his own skill, a structure that would give him the illusion of being not just earth’s steward but lord of the cosmos, there would be no end to his conceit. He would think himself the measure of all things.”

   Human pride always leads us astray, and the results would be disastrous for society.

“Had the building of the tower been accomplished, the outcome would not have been a societas perfecta (“complete society”) but terror: those with resources and recklessness enough to occupy the tower’s upper storeys would have oppressed the earth. God stepped in to save man from himself.”

   If we think for two seconds about this scenario, it makes perfect sense because we often see it playing out in our society today. Those with power and authority use those privileges to enrich themselves and impoverish others. Pope Leo XIV in his recent encyclical on AI, Magnifica Humanitas, presents humanity with the choice to build another Tower of Babel or to seek another path.

“The Holy Father contrasts the building of the tower, a project of fierce ambition with space for but a few, with the communal re-building of Jerusalem after Israel’s exile in, precisely, Babylon, where Babel had once towered. Jerusalem is to be a city in which all people can live together in peace and joy. Reality shall reign there, not illusion. God shall be worshiped there in truth. What will we aim for: exclusion or communion, privileges for a small class of the elect or a true society, where, in God’s name, all can build a life together?  

   This choice between a world of exclusion that benefits few and a “true society” where all can live is a choice for each of us today. Babel is the archetype of humanity’s prideful ambition leading to its own downfall. Bishop Varden will unspool some of the ways that the poor and downtrodden have raised their voice in protest to the rich and powerful in recent years. Stay tuned!



   -Fr. Stephen