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Against crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, Norway's national church issued a formal apology for hurtful actions and exclusion perpetrated over the years.

“The national church has brought LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, Bishop Tveit, stated this Thursday. “This should never have happened and that is why I offer my apology now.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” resulted in some to lose their faith, the bishop admitted. A church service at the cathedral in Oslo was planned to take place after his statement.

The statement of regret occurred at the London Pub, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 attack that resulted in two deaths and left nine seriously injured throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who expressed support for ISIS, was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for the killings.

Like many religions around the world, Norway's church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, preventing them from serving as pastors or to have church weddings. In the 1950s, church leaders characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a global-scale societal hazard”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, becoming the second in the world to legalize same-sex partnerships back in 1993 and by 2009 the first Scandinavian country to legalize same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

During 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church began ordaining gay pastors, and same-sex couples could have church weddings since 2017. Last year, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called a historic moment for the religious institution.

The apology on Thursday was met with a mixed reaction. The head of a network representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, called it “a crucial act of amends” and a point in time that “represented the closure of a painful era in the history of the church”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “powerful and significant” but was delivered “too late for those among us who died of Aids … carrying heavy hearts because the church considered the disease as punishment from God”.

Globally, a few churches have attempted to reconcile for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. In 2023, England's church expressed regret for what it described as “shameful” actions, though it still declines to allow same-sex marriages within the church.

Likewise, Ireland's Methodist Church last year issued an apology for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their relatives, but held fast in its conviction that matrimony must only constitute a bond between male and female.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada issued an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, characterizing it as a confirmation of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” in all aspects of church life.

“We did not manage to honor and appreciate all of your beautiful creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, remarked. “We have hurt individuals instead of seeking wholeness. We are sorry.”