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Against crimson theater drapes at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for harm and unequal treatment caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has brought the LGBTQ+ community shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, announced on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and that is why I offer my apology now.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” led to some to lose their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at Oslo's main cathedral was arranged to come after the apology.

The apology took place at a venue called London Pub, a bar that was one of two targeted in the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who expressed support for ISIS, received a sentence to at least 30 years in incarceration for the murders.

Like many religions around the world, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is the biggest religious group in Norway – historically excluded LGBTQ+ individuals, denying them the opportunity from joining the clergy or to marry in church. Back in the 1950s, the church’s bishops described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, emerging as the world's second to allow same-sex registered partnerships during 1993 and during 2009 the initial Nordic nation to allow same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

During 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and gay and lesbian couples could have church weddings starting in 2017. In 2023, 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 varied responses. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie, who is also a gay pastor, called it “a crucial act of amends” and a point in time that “signaled the conclusion of a painful era in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology was “powerful and significant” but had come “not in time for those among us who died of Aids … with deep sorrow in their hearts since the church viewed the disease as divine punishment”.

Internationally, a few churches have attempted to offer apologies for their past behavior regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. Last year, England's church said sorry for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, although it still declines to permit gay marriages within the church.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church in Ireland in the past year issued an apology for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but held fast in its belief that marriage could only be a union between a man and a woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church based in Canada offered an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, labeling it a reaffirmation of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” throughout every area of church life.

“We have failed to honor and appreciate the beauty of all creation,” Reverend Blair, the general secretary of the church, remarked. “We caused pain to people instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”