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Set against crimson theater drapes at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Church of Norway issued a formal apology for hurtful actions and exclusion caused by the church.

“The national church has caused the LGBTQ+ community pain, shame and significant harm,” the lead bishop, the church leader, declared during a Thursday event. “It was wrong for this to take place and which is the reason I apologise today.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” had caused a loss of faith for some, the bishop admitted. A church service at the cathedral in Oslo was scheduled to follow his apology.

This formal apology was delivered at the London Pub establishment, one among two bars attacked during the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and left nine seriously injured during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was given a prison term to a minimum of three decades in prison for carrying out the attacks.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the most extensive faith community in the country – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ people, denying them the opportunity from serving as pastors or to marry in church. Back in the 1950s, bishops of the church characterized LGBTQ+ persons as a “social danger of global proportions”.

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

During 2007, Norway's church started appointing gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners could have church weddings since 2017. In 2023, Tveit joined in the Pride march in Oslo in what was noted as a first for the church.

Thursday’s apology received differing opinions. The head of a network representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, a lesbian minister herself, described it as “an important reparation” and a point in time that “represented the closure of a difficult period in the church’s history”.

According to Stephen Adom, the director of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the crisis as punishment from God”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have tried to reconcile for historical treatment towards LGBTQ+ people. During 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it described as “disgraceful” conduct, though it persists in refusing to authorize same-sex weddings within the church.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church in Ireland in the past year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but stayed firm in its conviction that marriage should only represent a partnership of one man and one woman.

Earlier this year, Canada's United Church issued an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, characterizing it as a reaffirmation 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 all of your beautiful creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have hurt individuals in place of fostering completeness. We are sorry.”