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Against red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway expressed regret for harm and unequal treatment it had inflicted.

“The national church has caused LGBTQ+ individuals harm, suffering and humiliation,” bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, the church leader, declared on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” had caused certain individuals abandoning their faith, Tveit recognized. A worship service at Oslo's main cathedral was scheduled to follow his apology.

This formal apology took place at a venue called London Pub, one among two bars targeted in the 2022 attack that killed two people and caused serious injuries to nine at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to no less than 30 years behind bars for the killings.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, denying them the opportunity to become pastors or to marry in church. Back in the 1950s, the church’s bishops described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, becoming the second in the world to allow same-sex registered partnerships back in 1993 and in 2009 the first Scandinavian country to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

During 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing homosexual ministers, and LGBTQ+ partners could marry in church starting in 2017. Last year, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was noted as a first for the church.

Thursday’s apology was met with a mixed reaction. The head of a network of Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and a point in time that “signaled the conclusion of a painful era in the history of the church”.

For Stephen Adom, the director of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “not in time for those who passed away from AIDS … with deep sorrow in their hearts since the church viewed the disease to be God’s punishment”.

Globally, several faith-based organizations have tried to offer apologies for their actions concerning the LGBTQ+ community. During 2023, the Anglican Church said sorry for what it described as “disgraceful” conduct, though it continues to refuse to allow same-sex marriages within the church.

Likewise, the Methodist Church in Ireland in the past year issued an apology for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but remained staunch in its belief that marriage should only represent a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, the United Church based in Canada offered an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, labeling it a reaffirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have not succeeded to honor and appreciate all of your beautiful creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, stated. “We have wounded people rather than pursuing healing. We apologize.”