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Against red stage curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Norwegian Lutheran Church offered an apology for hurtful actions and exclusion caused by the church.

“Norway's church has inflicted LGBTQ+ people harm, suffering and humiliation,” the presiding bishop, Bishop Tveit, declared during a Thursday event. “It was wrong for this to take place and which is the reason I offer my apology now.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” resulted in some to lose their faith, the bishop admitted. A church service at Oslo's main cathedral was arranged to take place after his statement.

The statement of regret occurred at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars involved in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who expressed support for ISIS, was given a prison term to a minimum of three decades behind bars for the murders.

Like many religions around the world, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded LGBTQ+ individuals, refusing to allow them from serving as pastors or to marry in church. During the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as “a worldwide social threat”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, ranking as the second globally to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples back in 1993 and during 2009 the first Scandinavian country to allow same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

During 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and same-sex couples were permitted to marry in church starting in 2017. Last year, the bishop took part in the Oslo Pride event in what was noted as a historic moment for the religious institution.

Thursday’s apology was met with differing opinions. The director of a group representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, a lesbian minister herself, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and a point in time that “finally marked the end of a dark chapter in the history of the church”.

For Stephen Adom, the head of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology represented “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “overdue for individuals among us who died of Aids … with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the epidemic as divine punishment”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have tried to make amends for their actions concerning the LGBTQ+ community. During 2023, England's church expressed regret for what it described as “disgraceful” conduct, though it still declines to authorize same-sex weddings within the church.

Likewise, Ireland's Methodist Church last year apologised for its “failures in pastoral support and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their relatives, but held fast in its belief that marriage could only be a partnership of one man and one woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church based in Canada issued an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, characterizing it as a reaffirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We did not manage to rejoice and take pleasure in all of your beautiful creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have wounded people rather than pursuing healing. We apologize.”