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Amid deep red curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, Norway's national church expressed regret for harm and unequal treatment perpetrated over the years.

“Norway's church has brought LGBTQ+ people harm, suffering and humiliation,” the presiding bishop, Bishop Tveit, announced this Thursday. “This should never have happened and which is the reason I offer my apology now.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in certain individuals abandoning their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A religious service at Oslo Cathedral was arranged to follow his apology.

This formal apology occurred at the London Pub establishment, one among two bars involved in the 2022 violent incident that killed two people 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 no less than 30 years in prison for carrying out the attacks.

In common with various worldwide religions, Norway's church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded LGBTQ+ people, refusing to allow them from serving as pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. In the 1950s, church leaders 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 permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples in 1993 and by 2009 the first in Scandinavia to allow same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

In 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and LGBTQ+ partners were permitted to get married in religious ceremonies since 2017. In 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as a first for the church.

Thursday’s apology was met with varied responses. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, described it as “a significant step toward healing” and a moment that “represented the closure of a dark chapter within the church's past”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the leader of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but had come “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the epidemic to be God’s punishment”.

Internationally, a few churches have tried to make amends for their past behavior regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. Last year, the Church of England apologised for what it described as “shameful” actions, though it persists in refusing to permit gay marriages in church.

Likewise, the Methodist Church located in Ireland the previous year issued an apology for its “failures in pastoral support and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but remained staunch in its belief that marriage could only be a partnership of one man and one woman.

Several months ago, the United Church of Canada delivered a statement of regret to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, describing 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 the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, remarked. “We caused pain to people instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”