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Amid deep red curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for discrimination and harm caused by the church.

“Norway's church has inflicted LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, Bishop Tveit, stated this Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” resulted in some to lose their faith, Tveit recognized. A church service at Oslo's main cathedral was planned to come after the apology.

This formal apology occurred at the London Pub establishment, one among two bars attacked during the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and left nine seriously injured during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who expressed support for ISIS, received a sentence to at least 30 years in incarceration for carrying out the attacks.

In common with various worldwide religions, Norway's church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is Norway’s largest faith community – historically excluded LGBTQ+ individuals, preventing them to become pastors or to marry in church. In the 1950s, the church’s bishops characterized LGBTQ+ persons as a “social danger of global proportions”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, becoming the second in the world to allow same-sex registered partnerships back in 1993 and during 2009 the first Scandinavian country to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

During 2007, the Church of Norway commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and same-sex couples were permitted to marry in church since 2017. During 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called a historic moment for the religious institution.

The Thursday statement of regret was met with differing opinions. The director of a group for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, called it “an important reparation” and an occasion that “signaled the conclusion of a difficult period in the church’s history”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the director of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “meaningful and vital” but arrived “not in time for those among us who died of Aids … with deep sorrow in their hearts since the church viewed the epidemic to be God’s punishment”.

Internationally, a few churches have attempted to reconcile for historical treatment regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. During 2023, the Anglican Church expressed regret for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, even as it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings in church.

Similarly, the Methodist Church located in Ireland the previous year issued an apology for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” to LGBTQ+ people and their families, but stayed firm in its conviction that matrimony must only constitute a union between a man and a woman.

Several months ago, Canada's United Church offered an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, describing it as a renewed commitment of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in all of your beautiful creation,” Reverend Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have wounded people rather than pursuing healing. We are sorry.”