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Set against crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway offered an apology for discrimination and harm perpetrated over the years.

“The national church has brought LGBTQ+ individuals shame, great harm and pain,” the lead bishop, Bishop Tveit, declared this Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and this is why I offer my apology now.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” led to some to lose their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A church service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to come after the apology.

The apology took place at the London Pub establishment, one among two bars targeted in the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who expressed support for ISIS, received a sentence to a minimum of three decades in prison for the killings.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded LGBTQ+ individuals, preventing them to become pastors or to have church weddings. During the 1950s, church leaders described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, emerging as the world's second to allow same-sex registered partnerships during 1993 and during 2009 the first in Scandinavia to approve gay marriage, the church slowly followed.

During 2007, Norway's church began ordaining homosexual ministers, and gay and lesbian couples were permitted to have church weddings from 2017 onward. In 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as an unprecedented step for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret received differing opinions. The head of a network of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, a lesbian minister herself, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “finally marked the end of a painful era in the history of the church”.

According to Stephen Adom, the director of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology represented “meaningful and vital” but arrived “not in time for those among us who died of Aids … with hearts filled with anguish since the church viewed the crisis as punishment from God”.

Globally, a few churches have attempted to offer apologies for their actions regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. Last year, the Anglican Church said sorry for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, even as it continues to refuse to allow same-sex marriages in religious settings.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland last year expressed regret for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and their families, but held fast in its conviction that matrimony must only constitute a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, Canada's United Church issued an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, describing 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 honor and appreciate the wonderful diversity of creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, stated. “We have wounded people rather than pursuing healing. We apologize.”