Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway gives the commencement address at the 2026 graduation ceremony at St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland.

May 7th, 2026.

0:00 Welcome and thanks
1:20 Death Comes for the Archbishop
4:35 How Saint-Sulpice forms a priest
6:50 A test in the New Mexico wilderness
9:36 Are universities just "degree factories" now?
10:24 Newman's idea of the "perfection of intellect"
13:30 Establish order at home first
15:38 A final charge to the graduates