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Against crimson theater drapes at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Norwegian Lutheran Church expressed regret for discrimination and harm caused by the church.

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

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in certain individuals abandoning their faith, the bishop admitted. A worship service at the cathedral in Oslo was arranged to come after the apology.

The statement of regret occurred at a venue called London Pub, a bar that was one of two targeted in the 2022 attack that resulted in two deaths and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was sentenced to no less than 30 years in incarceration for the killings.

Similar to numerous global faiths, Norway's church – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. During the 1950s, bishops of the church described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, ranking as the second globally to legalize same-sex partnerships during 1993 and by 2009 the first Scandinavian country to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

In 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and LGBTQ+ partners could have church weddings from 2017 onward. During 2023, Tveit joined in the Pride march in Oslo in what was described as a first for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret was met with differing opinions. The director of a group for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, a lesbian minister herself, called it “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “represented the closure of a painful era in the church’s history”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but had come “not in time for those who lost their lives to AIDS … carrying heavy hearts because the church considered the crisis as punishment from God”.

Worldwide, a few churches have tried to make amends for historical treatment regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. During 2023, the Anglican Church apologised for what it characterized as its “shameful” treatment, although it still declines to permit gay marriages in religious settings.

Similarly, the Methodist Church in Ireland the previous year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but stayed firm in its conviction that marriage should only represent a partnership of one man and one woman.

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

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in all of your beautiful creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, stated. “We have wounded people instead of seeking wholeness. We are sorry.”