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Against deep red curtains at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Norwegian Lutheran Church expressed regret for harm and unequal treatment perpetrated over the years.

“Norway's church has caused LGBTQ+ individuals pain, shame and significant harm,” the lead bishop, the church leader, declared this Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and this is why I apologise today.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in certain individuals abandoning their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A church service at Oslo's main cathedral was planned to take place after his statement.

This formal apology took place at a venue called London Pub, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 shooting that took two lives and caused serious injuries to nine throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was given a prison term to at least 30 years in prison for the murders.

In common with various worldwide religions, Norway's church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is the biggest religious group in Norway – for years sidelined the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from serving as pastors or to have church weddings. Back in the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as a “social danger of global proportions”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, ranking as the second globally to allow same-sex registered partnerships in 1993 and in 2009 the first Scandinavian country to legalize same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

Back in 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and LGBTQ+ partners could marry in church starting in 2017. Last year, Tveit joined in the Pride march in Oslo in what was called an unprecedented step for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret was met with a mixed reaction. The head of a network representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, who is also a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a dark chapter in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish as the church regarded the crisis as divine punishment”.

Internationally, a handful of religious institutions have tried to reconcile for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. In 2023, the Church of England said sorry for what it described as “shameful” actions, although it continues to refuse to permit gay marriages within the church.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church in Ireland the previous year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” to LGBTQ+ people and their relatives, but held fast in its belief that marriage could only be a bond between male and female.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada delivered a statement of regret toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, characterizing it as a reaffirmation of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” throughout every area of church life.

“We have not succeeded to celebrate and delight in the wonderful diversity of creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, stated. “We have wounded people instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”