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Against crimson theater drapes at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Church of Norway offered an apology for discrimination and harm perpetrated over the years.

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ individuals pain, shame and significant harm,” the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, declared during a Thursday event. “It was wrong for this to take place and this is why I apologise today.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” led to a loss of faith for some, Tveit recognized. A religious service at the cathedral in Oslo was scheduled to come after the apology.

This formal apology was delivered at the London Pub, one of two bars attacked during the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was given a prison term to no less than 30 years in incarceration for the murders.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ individuals, refusing to allow them from joining the clergy or to have church weddings. During the 1950s, bishops of the church characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a worldwide social threat”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, emerging as the world's second to allow same-sex registered partnerships back in 1993 and in 2009 the first in Scandinavia to legalize same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

During 2007, the Church of Norway started appointing gay pastors, and same-sex couples have been able to marry in church from 2017 onward. Last year, the bishop took part in the Oslo Pride event in what was noted as a first for the church.

The apology on Thursday was met with differing opinions. The leader of an organization of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, called it “an important reparation” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a difficult period in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology represented “meaningful and vital” but had come “too late for those who passed away from AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the disease as divine punishment”.

Globally, a few churches have tried to offer apologies for their actions regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. During 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it referred to as “disgraceful” conduct, though it still declines to authorize same-sex weddings within the church.

Similarly, the Methodist Church in Ireland last year expressed regret for its “failures in pastoral support and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but held fast in its conviction that marriage could only be a bond between male and female.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada issued an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, characterizing it as a reaffirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in all aspects of church life.

“We have failed to honor and appreciate the wonderful diversity of creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, stated. “We caused pain to people instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”