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Set against red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church offered an apology for hurtful actions and exclusion it had inflicted.

“Norway's church has brought LGBTQ+ people pain, shame and significant harm,” the lead bishop, the church leader, stated this Thursday. “This should never have happened and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” had caused certain individuals abandoning their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A religious service at Oslo Cathedral was arranged to follow his apology.

This formal apology was delivered at a venue called London Pub, one among two bars targeted in the 2022 attack that took two lives and left nine seriously injured throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to no less than 30 years in prison for the killings.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the most extensive faith community in the country – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, preventing them from joining the clergy or to marry in church. In the 1950s, bishops of the church characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a worldwide social threat”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, ranking as the second globally to legalize same-sex partnerships during 1993 and in 2009 the first Scandinavian country to legalize same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

During 2007, Norway's church began ordaining gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners were permitted to get married in religious ceremonies starting in 2017. During 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called an unprecedented step for the church.

Thursday’s apology was met with varied responses. The head of a network representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, a lesbian minister herself, called it “a significant step toward healing” and an occasion that “represented the closure of a dark chapter in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology represented “powerful and significant” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who passed away from AIDS … carrying heavy hearts as the church regarded the crisis as punishment from God”.

Internationally, a few churches have tried to reconcile for historical treatment towards LGBTQ+ people. During 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it characterized as “disgraceful” conduct, though it continues to refuse to allow same-sex marriages within the church.

Likewise, Ireland's Methodist Church last year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but stayed firm in its belief that matrimony must only constitute a union between a man and a woman.

In the early part of this year, the United Church of Canada issued an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, characterizing it as a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in the wonderful diversity of creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the church's general secretary, stated. “We caused pain to people in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”