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Set against crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, Norway's national church issued a formal apology for hurtful actions and exclusion perpetrated over the years.

“Norway's church has caused the LGBTQ+ community pain, shame and significant harm,” the presiding bishop, Bishop Tveit, declared this Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and this is why I apologise today.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” resulted in some to lose their faith, Tveit recognized. A religious service at Oslo Cathedral was planned to take place after his statement.

This formal apology took place at a venue called London Pub, one among two bars attacked during the 2022 shooting that resulted in two deaths and left nine seriously injured at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who expressed support for ISIS, received a sentence to a minimum of three decades 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 – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. In the 1950s, church leaders described gay people 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 back in 1993 and during 2009 the initial Nordic nation to allow same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

In 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to marry in church since 2017. In 2023, Tveit joined in the Oslo Pride event in what was described as a historic moment for the religious institution.

The Thursday statement of regret was met with varied responses. The head of a network representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, herself a gay pastor, called it “a significant step toward healing” and an occasion that “represented the closure of a painful era in the history of the church”.

For Stephen Adom, the director of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “strong and important” but arrived “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … carrying heavy hearts because the church considered the crisis to be God’s punishment”.

Worldwide, a handful of religious institutions have sought to make amends for their past behavior concerning the LGBTQ+ community. In 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it described as “disgraceful” conduct, even as it still declines to permit gay marriages within the church.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year apologised for its “failures in pastoral support and care” to LGBTQ+ people and their relatives, but held fast in its belief that matrimony must only constitute a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, the United Church based in Canada delivered a statement of regret to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, characterizing it as a confirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have not succeeded to celebrate and delight in all of your beautiful creation,” Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, remarked. “We caused pain to people rather than pursuing healing. We express our regret.”