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Against crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, Norway's national church issued a formal apology for hurtful actions and exclusion caused by the church.

“Norway's church has inflicted LGBTQ+ people pain, shame and significant harm,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, declared on Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and that is why today I say sorry.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” resulted in a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A religious service at the cathedral in Oslo was planned to follow his apology.

The statement of regret occurred at the London Pub establishment, one among two bars attacked during the 2022 violent incident that killed two people and left nine seriously injured throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who expressed support for ISIS, was given a prison term to a minimum of three decades in prison for the killings.

Like many religions around the world, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is Norway’s largest faith community – for years sidelined LGBTQ+ individuals, refusing to allow them to become pastors or to have church weddings. In the 1950s, bishops of the church characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a global-scale societal hazard”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, ranking as the second globally to legalize same-sex partnerships back in 1993 and during 2009 the first in Scandinavia to legalize same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

During 2007, the Church of Norway started appointing homosexual ministers, and gay and lesbian couples were permitted to get married in religious ceremonies from 2017 onward. Last year, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was described as an unprecedented step for the church.

The apology on Thursday received a mixed reaction. The director of a group for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, called it “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “represented the closure of a dark chapter in the church’s history”.

According to Stephen Adom, the head of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “not in time for those among us who died of Aids … with deep sorrow in their hearts since the church viewed the crisis as punishment from God”.

Internationally, a few churches have tried to offer apologies for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. In 2023, England's church said sorry for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, although it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings within the church.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church in Ireland in the past year issued an apology for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but held fast in the view that marriage should only represent a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, the United Church based in Canada delivered a statement of regret to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, characterizing it as a confirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in the wonderful diversity of creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, stated. “We have hurt individuals rather than pursuing healing. We express our regret.”