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Against crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for discrimination and harm perpetrated over the years.

“The church in Norway has inflicted LGBTQ+ individuals pain, shame and significant harm,” bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, Bishop Tveit, stated this Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” led to certain individuals abandoning their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was planned to come after the apology.

The statement of regret occurred at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars involved in the 2022 violent incident that killed two people and injured nine people severely at Oslo's Pride event. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to at least 30 years in prison for the murders.

Like many religions around the world, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded LGBTQ+ individuals, denying them the opportunity from serving as pastors or to have church weddings. During the 1950s, the church’s bishops characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a worldwide social threat”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, ranking as the second globally to allow same-sex registered partnerships in 1993 and in 2009 the initial Nordic nation to approve gay marriage, the church slowly followed.

Back in 2007, the Church of Norway commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and gay and lesbian couples could get married in religious ceremonies from 2017 onward. In 2023, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was noted as a first for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret received a mixed reaction. The director of a group for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “signaled the conclusion of a dark chapter within the church's past”.

According to Stephen Adom, the director of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “strong and important” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who passed away from AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish as the church regarded the epidemic as divine punishment”.

Worldwide, a handful of religious institutions have attempted to reconcile for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. In 2023, the Anglican Church apologised for what it referred to as “shameful” actions, even as it persists in refusing to permit gay marriages within the church.

Likewise, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year expressed regret for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but remained staunch in its conviction that marriage could only be a partnership of one man and one woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church based in Canada delivered a statement of regret toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, describing it as a renewed commitment of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have not succeeded to honor and appreciate the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, stated. “We caused pain to people instead of seeking wholeness. We are sorry.”