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Set against deep red curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church offered an apology for harm and unequal treatment it had inflicted.

“The national church has brought LGBTQ+ people harm, suffering and humiliation,” bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, Bishop Tveit, declared this Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and that is why I offer my apology now.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” had caused some to lose their faith, the bishop admitted. A church service at Oslo Cathedral was arranged to take place after his statement.

The statement of regret occurred at a venue called London Pub, a bar that was one of two attacked during the 2022 violent incident that killed two people and left nine seriously injured at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was sentenced to a minimum of three decades behind bars for the murders.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ individuals, denying them the opportunity from joining the clergy or to marry in church. During the 1950s, the church’s bishops characterized LGBTQ+ persons as a “social danger of global proportions”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, ranking as the second globally to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples back in 1993 and in 2009 the first Scandinavian country to allow same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

Back in 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and same-sex couples have been able to have church weddings starting in 2017. In 2023, Tveit participated in the Pride march in Oslo in what was noted as a first for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret was met with varied responses. The leader of an organization of Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a dark chapter in the church’s history”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology represented “powerful and significant” but had come “too late for those who lost their lives to AIDS … carrying heavy hearts because the church considered the epidemic as punishment from God”.

Internationally, a handful of religious institutions have attempted to reconcile for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, the Anglican Church said sorry for what it described as “disgraceful” conduct, though it still declines to permit gay marriages in church.

Similarly, the Methodist Church in Ireland the previous year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” to LGBTQ+ people and their families, but stayed firm in the view that marriage could only be a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, the United Church of Canada issued an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, labeling it a renewed commitment of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” in every part of the church's activities.

“We did not manage to rejoice and take pleasure in all of your beautiful creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have hurt individuals instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”