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Against crimson theater drapes at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for discrimination and harm perpetrated over the years.

“The national church has caused LGBTQ+ people pain, shame and significant harm,” the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, stated during a Thursday event. “It was wrong for this to take place and that is why I offer my apology now.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” had caused a loss of faith for some, the bishop admitted. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was arranged to take place after his statement.

This formal apology took place at a venue called London Pub, one among two bars attacked during the 2022 attack that took two lives and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who expressed support for ISIS, was sentenced to no less than 30 years in prison for the killings.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is Norway’s largest faith community – historically excluded LGBTQ+ people, denying them the opportunity from serving as pastors or to have church weddings. Back in the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as a “social danger of global proportions”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, ranking as the second globally to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples in 1993 and by 2009 the first Scandinavian country to allow same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

Back in 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and gay and lesbian couples could marry in church since 2017. In 2023, Tveit joined in the Pride march in Oslo in what was described as an unprecedented step for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret was met with varied responses. The leader of an organization of Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “represented the closure of a difficult period in the church’s history”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the leader of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology was “powerful and significant” but had come “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish since the church viewed the disease as punishment from God”.

Internationally, several faith-based organizations have tried to offer apologies for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, the Church of England said sorry for what it referred to as “disgraceful” conduct, even as it still declines to permit gay marriages within the church.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church in Ireland in the past year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but stayed firm in the view that marriage should only represent a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, Canada's United Church offered an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, describing it as a reaffirmation of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” in all aspects of church life.

“We have failed to honor and appreciate all of your beautiful creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have hurt individuals rather than pursuing healing. We are sorry.”