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Against red stage curtains at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Church of Norway offered an apology for discrimination and harm caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has inflicted LGBTQ+ individuals pain, shame and significant harm,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, stated during a Thursday event. “This ought not to have occurred and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” had caused some to lose their faith, the bishop admitted. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to come after the apology.

This formal apology took place at the London Pub, one among two bars targeted in the 2022 attack that took two lives and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was sentenced to no less than 30 years behind bars for carrying out the attacks.

In common with various worldwide religions, Norway's church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is the biggest religious group in Norway – for years sidelined LGBTQ+ individuals, denying them the opportunity from serving as pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. In the 1950s, church leaders characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a worldwide social threat”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, becoming the second in the world to legalize same-sex partnerships during 1993 and in 2009 the first Scandinavian country to allow same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

Back in 2007, the Church of Norway commenced the ordination of gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to get married in religious ceremonies since 2017. During 2023, Tveit joined in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as an unprecedented step for the church.

Thursday’s apology received a mixed reaction. The head of a network of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie, who is also a gay pastor, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “finally marked the end of a dark chapter within the church's past”.

For Stephen Adom, the head of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “too late for those who lost their lives to AIDS … carrying heavy hearts as the church regarded the disease as divine punishment”.

Internationally, several faith-based organizations have attempted to offer apologies for their past behavior concerning the LGBTQ+ community. During 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it described as its “shameful” treatment, although it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings in church.

In a similar vein, Ireland's Methodist Church in the past year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their relatives, but remained staunch in the view that marriage should only represent a partnership of one man and one woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church based in Canada offered an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, 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 did not manage to celebrate and delight in the wonderful diversity of creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, stated. “We have wounded people rather than pursuing healing. We apologize.”